Effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children

Background and Aim: The presence of a child with hearing impairment in the family is often problematic and needs psychological interven­tions. The purpose of this study was to inves­tigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and with experi­mental and control groups. The study population comprised all mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children of 2–6 years old in Tabriz City, Iran. Using purposive sampling method, 32 mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children were selected and then randomly assigned to control and experimental groups (each with 16 subjects). The experimental group was treated with ACT during 8 sessions of 1.5 hours long in two weeks. The study data were collected by the depression anxiety stress scale. Results: ACT was effective in decreasing anxi­ety and depression symptoms in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Considering the results and effecti­veness of ACT in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children, this treatment is rec­ommended in rehabilitation centers for children with hearing problems.