The effect of bibliotherapy on the development of self-efficacy of women with disabled children

The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of the bibliotherapy technique on the development of general self-efficacy of women with disabled children. The specific objective of the study is to draw attention to bibliotherapy as a method in the library and information science area. The research was conducted with 18 volunteers from 80 mothers of disabled children who received service from ZİÇEV (Mentally Handicapped Education and Protection Foundation) in the 2019-2020 academic year. Group work and the general self-efficacy scale was used to collect data. In the research, 2x2 mixed design (experiment – control – pre-test – post-test) was conducted. The self-efficacy level of the women was chosen as the dependent variable while the independent variable was bibliotherapy activity. 9 women were assigned to the experimental group and the other 9 were the control group. The bibliotherapy program, designed by the researcher, was in six sessions. Each session took 2 hours. The general self-efficacy scale was conducted again at the last session. Statistically significant results were observed between the experimental and control groups. The results of the study showed that bibliotherapy increased the self-efficacy of women with disabled children. The research drew attention to the importance of bibliotherapy in the process of tackling the low self-efficacy levels of women with disabled children. It is expected that the study will contribute to the literature by encouraging interdisciplinary research based on bibliotherapy.