The purpose of this study was to develop a group counseling program to enhance emotion regulation among mothers who experienced childhood abuse and to examine its effectiveness. Program development involved a literature review and needs assessments wi...
The purpose of this study was to develop a group counseling program to enhance emotion regulation among mothers who experienced childhood abuse and to examine its effectiveness. Program development involved a literature review and needs assessments with both participants and experts. Based on these findings, five core components were identified: understanding the impact of childhood abuse experiences, acquiring emotion regulation strategies, enhancing parental self-understanding, addressing negative self-image, and utilizing group processes. A pilot program was then developed and refined through preliminary research, expert content validity evaluation, and pilot implementation. The final program consisted of 12 sessions, each lasting 90 minutes, and was structured to include psychoeducational input, experiential activities, and group-based sharing and reflection.
To evaluate program effectiveness, complex PTSD, emotion dysregulation, self-compassion, mentalization, and maternal behavior were assessed in both the experimental and control groups at three time points (pretest, posttest, and follow-up). Data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0 with repeated measures ANCOVA, simple main effects analyses, and Bonferroni post hoc tests.
Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed statistically significant improvements in emotion dysregulation, self-compassion, and maternal behavior, and these effects were maintained at follow-up. The effect on complex PTSD approached statistical significance from pretest to posttest, whereas no significant effect was found for mentalization. In addition, consensual qualitative analysis of interview transcripts and program satisfaction surveys revealed positive changes in emotion regulation, self-compassion, mentalization, and maternal behavior among participants.
Overall, both quantitative and qualitative findings support the effectiveness of the program in improving emotion regulation and maternal behavior in mothers who experienced childhood abuse. This study contributes to the limited Korean research on this population and provides an empirically informed intervention for enhancing maternal emotion regulation. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.