Abstract: With the aim of comparing the effects of positive parenting and emotional coaching on psychological well-being and parenting stress among mothers of 7–12-year-old children with intellectual disabilities in Tehran during the 2023–2024 academic year, this quasi-experimental study was conducted. Eighteen mothers were recruited via convenience sampling from exceptional girls’ schools and randomly assigned to two groups. One group participated in eight weekly 90-minute sessions of a positive parenting program grounded in the social learning model, while the other received an emotional coaching program based on the trans-emotional philosophy. Psychological well-being (Ryff, 2004) and parenting stress (Abidin, 1995) were measured at pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up. The validity and reliability of the instruments and program content were confirmed. Mixed-design MANCOVA in SPSS-26 revealed that both interventions significantly enhanced psychological well-being (p = .048) and reduced parenting stress (p < .001), with positive parenting yielding greater improvements. These findings suggest that these interventions—particularly positive parenting or their integration—may be effectively employed to mitigate the psychological and emotional challenges experienced by these mothers.
Keywords: intellectuall disability, Positive Parentin (Triple p), emotional coaching,parenting stress, psychology well-being.
Introduction
Parents, particularly mothers, play a pivotal role in children’s socio‑emotional development through modeling and ongoing instruction; however, their continuous caregiving responsibilities often exacerbate parenting stress and undermine their psychological well‑being. Children with intellectual disabilities, faced with learning and emotion‑regulation challenges, intensify maternal distress and thereby highlight the need for specialized parent‑training interventions.
To mitigate parenting stress and enhance maternal psychological well‑being, parent‑training programs are designed to enrich parental knowledge, strengthen the parent–child bond, and improve children’s emotional and behavioral regulation. The “Positive Parenting Program,” grounded in Bandura’s social learning theory (1977), employs modeling, guided practice, and feedback to bolster parents’ self‑regulation and sense of mastery. In contrast, emotion coaching—derived from Gottman’s meta‑emotional philosophy (1996)—provides parents with a five‑step framework (emotion identification, validation and labeling, empathetic listening, problem‑solving support, and limit setting) to foster developmentally appropriate emotional responses in their children. Although empirical evidence supports the efficacy of both approaches in reducing emotional and behavioral difficulties and promoting positive parent–child interactions, findings remain inconclusive. To date, no study has directly compared the effects of these two methods on parenting stress and psychological well‑being among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities; the present study aims to fill this critical gap.
Materials and Method
This research was applied in purpose and semi-experimental in method, with a pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up design including two experimental groups. The statistical population consisted of all mothers of children with intellectual disabilities aged 7 to 12 years in Tehran during the 2023–2024 academic year. A sample of 18 mothers was selected by convenience sampling from a special education center assigned to two groups. The experimental groups received eight 90-minute sessions of either the Positive Parenting Program (Sanders et al., 2003) or the Tuning in to Kids program (Havighurst & Harley, 2007). Data collection tools included the Ryff Psychological Well-being Questionnaire (2002) and the Parenting Stress Index by Abidin (1995). The validity and reliability of the questionnaires and intervention programs were assessed and confirmed. Data analysis was performed using Mixed MANOVA with SPSS-26 software.
Discussion & Result:
This study demonstrated that both Positive Parenting and Emotion Coaching significantly enhanced psychological well-being and alleviated parenting stress among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Positive Parenting—grounded in behaviorist principles such as positive reinforcement, feedback provision, and practical modeling of desirable child behaviors—fortified parental structure and skill acquisition. Emotion Coaching—centered on empathic dialogue, emotion labeling, and emotional socialization—empowered mothers’ emotion-regulation capacities and strengthened family communication. It is recommended that future interventions integrate the behavioral and reinforcement-based strategies of Positive Parenting with the emotional support and skill-building components of Emotion Coaching and include simultaneous training for both parents to maximize maternal well-being and minimize parenting stress.
Conclusion
The present study demonstrated that both the Positive Parenting Program and Emotion Coaching significantly enhanced psychological well-being and reduced parenting stress among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Positive Parenting was particularly effective in strengthening parents’ sense of mastery and management skills, while Emotion Coaching had a greater impact on enhancing purpose in life and improving parent–child emotional interactions. Both approaches, operating through different mechanisms, can support mothers’ psychological functioning, and their combined application may yield greater benefits for families of children with intellectual disabilities.