Parents caring for children with physical disabilities often manage demanding medical, rehabilitation, educational, and daily-care responsibilities. These responsibilities can persist for years and may contribute to chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, and reduced quality of life. Mothers frequently assume the largest share of this care, yet relatively few randomized trials have evaluated structured stress-management programs specifically for this population.

Taşkaya et al.  [Journal of Affective Disorders] examined whether Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) could reduce parental stress and improve mindfulness and quality of life among mothers of children with physical disabilities.

The researchers recruited 64 mothers in Türkiye who were the primary caregivers of children who had experienced a physical disability for at least one year. Participants were randomly assigned to an eight-week MBSR program or to a no-intervention control group. Two women in the control group withdrew after relocating, leaving 62 participants for the final analysis: 32 in the MBSR group and 30 in the control group. Outcome assessments were conducted by a researcher who was unaware of participants’ group assignments.

The adapted MBSR program consisted of one 60- to 90-minute group session each week. Sessions included breathing awareness, body-scan practice, mindful attention to thoughts and sounds, loving-kindness and compassion meditation, and exercises intended to help participants relate differently to distressing thoughts and emotions. Participants also received audio recordings and were assigned practices to complete between sessions. The control group continued its usual activities without receiving a comparable program.

Before and after the intervention, participants completed self-report measures of parental stress, mindful attention, and quality of life. Compared with the control group, mothers assigned to MBSR showed a substantial reduction in parental stress. Their average stress score decreased from 39.8 to 31.5, while the control group’s score remained largely unchanged, increasing from 36.0 to 36.9. The group-by-time effect was statistically significant and large by conventional standards. Mindful attention also increased in the intervention group, rising from an average score of 46.6 to 57.0. Scores in the control group declined slightly, from 53.4 to 51.6. This difference in change was also statistically significant and accompanied by a large effect estimate.

Quality-of-life findings were more selective. Psychological quality of life improved in the MBSR group but not in the control group, producing a statistically significant group difference. Environmental quality of life—which includes perceived safety, financial resources, access to health and social services, opportunities for learning and recreation, and satisfaction with the home and physical environment—also improved modestly relative to the control condition. No significant between-group effects were observed for physical health or social relationships. The study additionally reported improvement in general health ratings, although this result received less emphasis in the authors’ summary.

The findings suggest that an eight-week mindfulness program may help mothers respond more adaptively to the psychological demands of caring for a child with a physical disability. The strongest evidence concerned perceived stress and mindful attention, while improvements in quality of life were limited to selected domains.

Several limitations temper the conclusions. The comparison group received no intervention, so the observed effects cannot be separated from attention, group support, expectations, or time spent away from caregiving responsibilities. All outcomes were self-reported, and participants and the instructor could not be blinded. The study included only mothers from one cultural setting, did not report participants’ adherence to home practice, and did not assess whether improvements persisted beyond the end of the eight-week program. 

Reference:

Taşkaya, C., Sezgin, L., & Çiftci, N. (2026). The effect of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program on stress and quality of life in mothers of children with physical disabilities: A single-blind randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders.

Link to study