Mindfulness-based Arabic Guided Self-help for Parents of Children With Type 1 Diabetes

Kuwait ranks as the third country worldwide for the incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) with an incidence of 37.10 per 100,000 children. A systematic review revealed that anxiety and depression are common in parents of children with T1D . Despite the high incidence rate, only one study to date has examined the psychological impact of diabetes on parents of children with T1D in Kuwait. It was found that 50.8% of parents had elevated levels of anxiety and 46.7% had elevated levels of depression. Recent research shows that mindfulness is associated with a range of positive outcomes as well as decreased psychological and emotional distress. The earlier A doctor of philosophy (PhD) study found that mindfulness explained large amount of variance in anxiety and depression in a sample of parents of children with T1D. Mindfulness is defined as \"paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally\". The model of mindful parenting can be taught and provided as an intervention to improve psychological outcomes in parents of children with long term health conditions. In line with this idea, one study examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on perceived stress and psychological anxiety among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Jordan. The results indicated a significant decrease in stress and psychological distress in the intervention group compared to the comparison group. In the present pilot study, we will extend this work by evaluating a guided self-help a mindfulness intervention that aims to increase mindfulness and reduce psychological distress in parents of children with T1D in Kuwait.