Families of chronically ill children experience great emotional distress, and endure significant lifestyle changes related to caring for an ill child. Because mothers in particular tend to assume the primary caretaking responsibilities for their ill child, they experience significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression, increases in isolation, and higher levels of parenting stress in comparison to other family members.

The few interventions available to mothers thus far provide only modest and anecdotal improvements to their mental health. In fact, no current treatment has proven effective in relieving maternal depression. The concepts of positive psychology may greatly benefit mothers who are coping with their chronically ill children, as they aim to strengthen inner traits and emotions in order to build robust coping responses and resiliency.

This dissertation created a support and prevention manual using the concepts of positive psychology. This manual is written for a therapist to lead an 8-week treatment program that targets 8 to 10 mothers with chronically ill children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old at the Ronald McDonald House of San Francisco (RMHSF). This program incorporates various empirically validated techniques from other support and prevention programs, and instructs the therapist to teach the concepts of positive psychology by offering support, psychoeducation, and positive psychology interventions that target and improve a mother's current emotional state and outlook on life, help her learn to identity and utilize her personal strengths, and enhance her sense of coherence, namely her comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The manual also instructs the therapist to educate mothers on how to structure their ill child's life experiences in ways that foster a strong sense of coherence in their child. This manual was reviewed by Ms. Becky Higbee-Sumner, a child life specialist at the UCSF Medical Center, and subsequently revised based on her feedback.