Mothers’ Experiences with Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting in the UAE: A Qualitative Study Including Families of Children with Disabilities

Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) is a non-violent, developmentally informed parenting program. This qualitative descriptive study explored how mothers in the United Arab Emirates described applying PDEP, including in disability-related caregiving contexts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 mothers who completed PDEP between 2022 and 2024; 13 had at least one child with a disability and six had typically developing children only. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Six themes were identified: (1) child-centered foundations; (2) transformation of parenting practices; (3) parental emotional regulation; (4) perceived child and parent–child changes; (5) implementation challenges and adaptation; and (6) program evaluation and recommendations. Mothers described greater attention to children’s developmental needs; calmer emotional responses; reduced reliance on punitive practices; and increased use of communication, warmth, structure, and individualized strategies. Disability-related accounts highlighted adapting expectations and strategies to children’s developmental abilities, communication needs, emotional regulation, and the need for predictable routines. Participants also described difficulty unlearning traditional disciplinary habits, navigating social expectations, and maintaining consistency under stress. Mothers perceived PDEP as relevant and adaptable within the UAE context. The findings illustrate how universal PDEP principles were adapted to disability-related caregiving in an underrepresented Arab Gulf context. Because the findings were retrospective and perception-based, they should not be interpreted as evidence of causal program effects.