Healing the Caregivers: Therapeutic Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Psychological Morbidity in Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities
Intisam Zia, Uzma Jillani
Journal of Development and Social Sciences June 8, 2026 DOI: 10.47205/jdss.2026(7-iii)12 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental, one-group pre-test post-test design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 35 |
| Population | Parents (25-45 years) of children with developmental disabilities |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Mindfulness-based stress reduction Stress measures Intervention counseling Depression economics Clinical psychology Test biology Internal consistency Psychological distress Stress management Stress linguistics Randomized controlled trial |
| Key findings | Depression, anxiety, and stress scores significantly decreased after the MBSR intervention. |
Abstract
This study looks at the efficacy of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program in reducing psychological stress for parents of children with all developmental disabilities. A one–group pre test – post test quasi experimental design was used. Participants in the MBSR intervention program for 8 weeks were the 35 parents (25-45 years) who were in the sample. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) were used to measure psychological distress before and after intervention. Paired sample t-tests were used to analyze data. The findings showed that the intervention was effective in lowering depression, anxiety, and stress. Depression scores significantly lowered, t(34) = 6.36, p < .001, anxiety scores reduced, t(34) = 6.13, p < .001, and stress scores also decreased, t(34) = 5.68, p < .001. The values of skewness and kurtosis were within normal limits, while Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was from .88 to .99, which was also excellent. The general results indicated that MBSR could be beneficial to parents' psychological distress in children with DD. The findings highlight the importance of embedding mindfulness training in caregiver support programs in other, less-studied, and culturally diverse settings.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |