Group Psychoeducational Programs Improve Mood Profiles in Mothers of Non-Attendance School Children

Objective: The parents of non-attendance school children often feel distress. The aims of this study were (i) to assess their quality of life compared with the general population and (ii) to evaluate the effects of group psychoeducation for these parents. Methods: We approached the parents of children aged 10-15 who were not attending school, and used the MOS 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess their quality of life. Profile of Mood States, Parenting Stress-Short-Form Japanese Version and the Intimate Bond Measure were used to assess the effect of parental group psychoeducation. We compared the subdomain scores for the SF-36 from the parents against national normative scores, and all scores before and after the intervention. Results: Participants were 19 mothers of 20 children. Following the intervention, the mood profiles of the mothers improved for tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. The mothers’ mean scores before the intervention were significantly lower than in the general female population for physical role, vitality, social functioning, emotional role and mental health. Conclusion: Group psychoeducation may therefore improve mood profiles of mothers of non-attendance school children.