The effect of self-compassion group training on Negative automatic thoughts and self-criticism in Mothers of children aged 7 to 14 with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder

Subject Areas : Consulting

poone shafie sabet ¹ , fariba saeedpoor ² , azadeh arami ³

1 - Master of clinical psychology, Islamic Azad University of Tonekabon Branch, Mazandaran, Iran.
2 - PhD Candidate of Counseling, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
3 - Master of clinical psychology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch of Guilan, Guilan, Iran.

Received: 2023-07-23 Accepted : 2023-12-31 Published : 2025-09-18

Keywords: negative automatic thoughts, self-criticism, self-compassion, children aged 7 to 14, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder,

Abstract :

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the common disorders in childhood that causes many problems for families. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of self-compassion group training on negative automatic thoughts and self-criticism in mothers of children aged 7 to 14 with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test with control group and three-month follow-up was used in this research. The statistical population consisted of all mothers with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder’ child who referred to counseling centers of Lahijan city in 2022. 30 of them were selected by available sampling method and randomly divided into experimental(15people) and Control groups(15people). The groups completed Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (Hollon & Kendall, 1980) and Levels of Self-criticism Questionnaire (Thampson & Zarof, 2004) as a research tools. During 8sessions of 90minutes, self-compassion training was performed for experimental group, and control group didn't receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by SPSS-22 software with the method of repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test. Findings showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups after the implementation of training (P<0.05); So that the mean score of negative automatic thoughts and self-criticism of the experimental group decreased compared to control group. Therefore, it is suggested to use self-compassion approach as one of the axes of parent education to reduce negative automatic thoughts and self-criticism in mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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