The effectiveness of dialectical behavioral group therapy on tolerance of distress and anger control skill in mothers with retarded mentally children

Introduction: Having a mentally retarded child in the family has negative and irreversible effects on parents, especially mothers. Aim: The aim of this study was the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy in a group on tolerating distress and anger control skill of mothers with mentally retarded children in Khorramabad. Method: The research method is quasi-experimental and is a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included mothers with mentally retarded students in Khorramabad in the years 2019 to 2020. By available sampling method, 40 people were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (20) and control (20). The experimental group underwent dialectical behavior therapy training in 8 sessions (one or two sessions per week) of 75 minutes. In order to collect research data, Simmons and Gaher tolerance distress questionnaire and standard anger management skill questionnaire were used. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS software version 21. Results: The results of the analysis of research hypotheses showed that dialectical behavior therapy training is effective on tolerance stress and improving mothers' anger management skill (P<0.05). In other words, the training program has increased anxiety tolerance and improved anger management skill in subjects. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, dialectical behavior therapy is one of the effective trainings to increase tolerance of distress and improve anger control skill in mothers with mentally retarded children.