effectiveness of group stress reduction on mental health, mothers’ quality of life, and behavioral problems in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background: children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) run a high risk of behavioral problems. their parents are also at risk of mental health and reduced quality of life. the present study aimed to investigate the effect of group mindfulnessbased stress reduction on the parents of adhd children and their mental health, quality of life, and behavioral problems. methods: we conducted this singleblind randomized controlled clinical trial on 76 mothers with adhd children aged 816 years referred to the clinics affiliated to shiraz university of medical sciences. we randomly divided the patients into intervention and control groups. group therapy included eight 45minute sessions in two months and a threemonth followup. the employed instruments were strengths and difficulties questionnaireparent form (sdqp), general health questionnaire28 (ghq28), and health related quality of lifeshort form36 (hrqolsf36). we analyzed all data by spss, and p values less than 0.05 were statistically significant. results: after the intervention, the overall mean score for ghq28 (p <0.01) and dimensions of hrqolsf36 (p <0.01), physical (p <0.001), and mental health significantly increased (p <0.01) and sdqp decreased (p <0.01) in the intervention group compared to the control group. conclusion: group mindfulnessbased stress reduction was effective on mental health and quality of life in the parents of children with adhd and could decrease child behavioral problems.