Eight Sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Eased Distress in Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disability

A randomized controlled trial conducted in Faisalabad, Pakistan, reports that a brief course of cognitive behavioral therapy substantially reduced depression, anxiety, and stress in mothers of children with intellectual disability, while also increasing their life satisfaction and self-compassion. The study, published in BMC Psychology, randomized 80 mothers to either an experimental group receiving therapy or a waitlist control group, and found large effect sizes across every measured outcome. Mothers of children with intellectual disability are considered at high risk of psychiatric problems, a burden the research team set out to address with a structured, testable intervention.

To qualify for the trial, mothers scored at least mildly severe on the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales at baseline screening and had a child with an IQ below 70. The participants ranged in age from 27 to 45 years and were recruited from special education schools and rehabilitation centers between 2020 and 2021. The intervention consisted of eight CBT-based therapeutic sessions delivered once a week to each mother in an individual setting.

Researchers assessed outcomes using a demographic form together with three standardized instruments: the Cognitive-Emotional Regulation Questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life scale, and the Self-Compassion Questionnaire. The trial was registered with the Thai Clinical Trial Registry under identifier TCTR20210625001. The results were striking in their consistency.

Depressive symptoms fell with a reported F statistic of 346.55 and an effect size of η² = 0.885, while anxiety symptoms dropped with F = 138.29 and η² = 0.754. Perceived daily stressors showed the largest reduction of the three symptom domains, with F = 358.84 and η² = 0.889. All three comparisons were reported at p < 0.000, and each effect size falls in the range conventionally described as large.

Beyond symptom relief, the therapy appeared to reshape how the mothers regulated their emotions. CBT significantly reduced maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, with F = 268.74 and η² = 0.86, and substantially enhanced adaptive emotion regulation strategies, with F = 466.44 and η² = 0.91, the highest effect size reported in the trial. The benefits extended into broader measures of wellbeing.

Mothers who received the sessions reported significantly higher satisfaction with life, with F = 253.29 and η² = 0.849, and a more positive attitude toward self, measured through self-compassion, with F = 330.54 and η² = 0.880. The authors characterize these changes as large effects, indicating that the improvements were not statistically marginal but substantial in magnitude within this sample. The trial design strengthens the causal interpretation of these findings.

Random assignment to an experimental group of 40 mothers and a waitlist control group of 40 means that the differences between groups at follow-up can reasonably be attributed to the therapy itself rather than to the passage of time or spontaneous recovery. Nevertheless, the study has boundaries that readers should keep in mind. The sample was drawn from a single Pakistani city and consisted of 80 mothers, so the findings may not generalize to fathers, to other caregiving arrangements, or to families in different cultural and health-system contexts.

The reported statistics come from an early-access version of the article that is subject to further edits before the final version of record appears, and the analysis reported here is based on the outcomes the authors chose to publish. The authors conclude that CBT remains successful in addressing mothers' psychiatric problems and improving children's management, having significantly reduced depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stressors while increasing adaptive emotional coping, life satisfaction, and positive attitudes toward self. For clinicians and services supporting families of children with intellectual disability, the trial offers a concrete data point: eight weekly individual sessions produced measurable, large-magnitude changes in both distress and wellbeing in this group.

Subject of Research: Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for psychological distress and life satisfaction in mothers of children with intellectual disability

Article Title: Cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce psychological distress and increase life satisfaction among mothers of children with intellectual disability: a randomized control trial

Article References: Abbas, Q., Kanwal, S. I., Rauf, U., Anwar, N., Habib, H. A., Habib, S., Javed, S., Jillani, U., Riaz, M. N., Shahzadi, M., & Aljhani, S. (2026). Cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce psychological distress and increase life satisfaction among mothers of children with intellectual disability: a randomized control trial. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05468-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05468-4

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, randomized controlled trial, intellectual disability, caregiver mental health, depression, anxiety, stress, emotion regulation, life satisfaction, self-compassion, mothers, BMC Psychology