An Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Behavioral Cognitive Mentoring: A Case Study of the Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Problem Statement: The births of a new child bring with it the changes to the structure of the family and add up to the responsibilities borne by the parents. Parents wish that they have an ideal natural child. However, the opposite occurs in which sometimes parents have a handicapped child that may affect the family, which then entail parents’ suffering from psychological stresses which require specialized assistance provided by specialists and counsellors. This study is aimed to determining the effect of CBTP for mothers of children with cerebral palsy and to determine the most effective and helpful coping strategy in managing their stress. Methodology: To achieve the research mentioned above objectives, the researcher conducted research based on quantitative data. This research involved a quasi-experimental research approach in which the quantitative data collected from the participants to conclude the research findings. Results: The Mann-Witney results for CBTP revealed that that there is a significant difference in the Pre-experimental and Pre-control groups of the pre-distribution specifically mothers of children with cerebral palsy (U = 44.50, z = -3.527, p = 0.000, r = 0.459), the experimental and control Post-experimental and Post-control groups (U = 25.00, z = -5.071, p = 0.000, r = 0.660), and the Delay-experimental and Delay-control group of the immediate-distribution of questionnaires during the program (U = 14.00, z = -6.283, p = 0.000, r = -0.818). These clearly showed that the mothers of children with cerebral palsy in the experimental group performed significantly better than those in the control group. By looking at the differences within groups, the results of using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed that there was a significant difference in the of experimental group before, after and delay exposure to the program, while for control group showed the insignificant difference. Conclusion: The Program is an effective intervention for behavioral problems in children with cerebral palsy. It is also suggested that the government provide more training sessions, employ the collaborative activity as an out-of-class assignment, and carefully monitor the process.