The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy on Parenting Self-Efficacy and Distress Tolerance in Mothers with Insecure Attachment Styles

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on parenting self-efficacy and distress tolerance in mothers with insecure attachment styles.Methods:  The research method employed was a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all mothers with an insecure attachment style during the ۲۰۲۴-۲۰۲۵ academic year in Ardabil. For this purpose, ۳۰ mothers with an insecure attachment style were selected based on the study's entry criteria using purposive sampling. They were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (۱۵ people) and one control group (۱۵ people). Following a pre-test using the Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale by Dumka et al. (۱۹۹۶) and the Distress Tolerance Scale by Simons and Gaher (۲۰۰۵), the experimental group participated in ۸ sessions (۲ sessions per week) of ۶۰-minute emotion-focused therapy as developed by Greenberg and Goldman (۲۰۱۹), while the control group maintained their normal routine. The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance method in SPSS version ۲۶ software.Results: The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the mean parenting self-efficacy (P≤۰.۰۰۱, F=۱۳.۹۸, ηp۲=۰.۳۵۰) and distress tolerance (P<۰.۰۰۱, F=۵۵.۰۰, ηp۲=۰.۶۷۹) of the experimental and control groups in the post-test. Thus, after implementing emotion-focused therapy, the mean scores of mothers with insecure attachment style in the experimental group increased significantly compared to the control group.Conclusion: As a result, emotion-focused therapy can help mothers with insecure attachment styles enhance their parenting self-efficacy and capacity to tolerate distress. This therapy enables mothers to evaluate and adjust their attachment style, ultimately fostering a secure attachment style.

Keywords:

distress tolerance , emotion-focused therapy , Mothers with insecure attachment style , Parenting Self-efficacy