Comparing the Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and a Combination of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and the Attachment Therapy on Insecurely Attached Mothers Treating Their Children's Behavioral Problems

Najafi Marboyeh, Nazanin; Golshani, Fatemeh; Emamipur, Soosan; Baghdasarians, Anita

Volume 12 - Articles-1401 MEJDS (2022) 12: 238 | Back to browse issues page

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Najafi Marboyeh N, Golshani F, Emamipur S, Baghdasarians A. Comparing the Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and a Combination of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and the Attachment Therapy on Insecurely Attached Mothers Treating Their Children's Behavioral Problems. MEJDS 2022; 12 :238-238
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1908-en.html

Comparing the Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and a Combination of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and the Attachment Therapy on Insecurely Attached Mothers Treating Their Children's Behavioral Problems

Nazanin Najafi Marboyeh¹

, Fatemeh Golshani ^*²

, Soosan Emamipur³

, Anita Baghdasarians²

1- PhD Student in General Psychology, Department of Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3- Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: (1266 Views)

Abstract
Background & Objectives: The behaviors considered normal at age 3 may indicate a clinically significant problem or disorder at age 5. Disruptive behavior problems in early childhood, such as aggressive behaviors, are often stable and signs of poor mental health prognosis in the future, which may lead to school failure, substance abuse, and crimes. These behaviors represent a range of potential risk factors regarding neurodevelopmental disorders and mental health problems, let alone their adverse effects on the child's current performance and increased stress in the family. The family environment is an important feature of the intervention because it can greatly enhance or hinder children and adolescents' emotional and social development. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of parent–child interaction therapy and a combination of parent–child interaction therapy and attachment therapy on insecurely attached mothers with their children's behavioral problems.
Methods: This quasi–experimental study has a pretest–posttest and a 2–month follow–up design with a control group. The statistical population included mothers with children with behavioral problems. The mothers were referred to psychological counseling clinics in district one of Tehran City, Iran, during 2018 and 2019. Thirty eligible volunteer mothers were identified as having an insecure attachment style based on their scores in the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Short Form (Wei et al., 2007) were included in the study. They were divided into two experimental and one control group. The first experimental group received only the parent–child interaction therapy. The second experimental group received the combined method of parent–child interaction therapy and attachment therapy. The mothers responded to the Child Behavior Checklist for the pretest, posttest, and follow–up assessment (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2007). The first experimental group received 10 sessions of parent–child interaction therapy, and the second group received 10 sessions of parent–child interaction therapy and 10 sessions of attachment therapy. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of variance, analysis of variance with repeated measurements, and Bonferroni's post hoc test) were used to describe and analyze the data in SPSS version 24. The significance level of the tests was considered 0.05.
Results: The results showed that the parent–child relationship therapy and the combination of parent–child interaction treatment and the attachment therapy had a reducing effect on both variables of anxiety, depression/isolation, physical complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, law–breaking and aggressive behavior (p<0.001). The time parameter reduced anxiety, depression/isolation, physical complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, law–breaking behavior, and aggressive behavior (p<0.001). The interaction of time*group reduced anxiety, depression/ isolation, physical complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, law–breaking, and aggressive behavior compared to the control group (p<0.001). There was a significant difference between the two experimental groups in the variables of depression/isolation (p=0.006), aggressive behavior (p=0.013), and law–breaking behavior (p=0.001). But no significant difference was observed between the two experimental groups in the other variables, i.e., anxiety, physical complaints, social problems, thought problems, and attention problems (p=1.000). Also, the results showed a significant difference between the mean values of the mentioned variables (including anxiety, depression/isolation, physical complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, law–breaking behavior, and aggressive behavior) in the pretest with posttest and follow–up phases in the experimental groups (p=0.001) and the persistence of this effect in the follow–up phase (p=0.017, p>0.05).
Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, both parent–child interaction therapy and the combination of parent–child interaction therapy with attachment therapy are effective on children's behavioral problems. However, combining parent–child interaction therapy with attachment therapy showed a greater effect on children's behavioral problems.

Keywords: Attachment, Behavioral problems, Parent–Child

Full-Text [PDF 644 kb] (299 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Psychology

References

1. Charach A, McLennan JD, Bélanger SA, Nixon MK. Screening for disruptive behaviour problems in preschool children in primary health care settings. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017;26(3):172–8.

2. Stormshak EA, Bierman KL, McMahon RJ, Lengua LJ. Parenting practices and child disruptive behavior problems in early elementary school. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2000;29(1):17–29. [DOI]

3. Mohammadi M, Vaisi Raiegani AA, Jalali R, Ghobadi A, Abbasi P. Prevalence of behavioral disorders in Iranian children. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci. 2019;28(169):181–91. [Persian] [Article]

4. Wang J, Yang Y, Tang Y, Wu M, Jiang S, Zou H. Longitudinal links among parent-child attachment, emotion parenting, and problem behaviors of preadolescents. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021;121:105797. [DOI]

5. Abbasi M, Neshatdoost HT. Effectiveness of parent-child interaction therapy on reduction of symptoms in oppositional defiant disorder. J Clinical Psychology. 2013;5(3):59–6. [Persian] [Article]

6. Brinkmeyer MY, Eyberg SM. Parent-child interaction therapy for oppositional children. In: Kazdin AE, Weisz JR; editors. Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescent. New York: Guilford Press; 2003.

7. Azizi A, Karimipoor BA, Rahmani S, Veisi F. Comparing the efficacy of child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT) and family-focused therapy (FFT) on function of families with children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). J Child Ment Health. 2016;3(2):9–20. [Article]

8. Murray KW, Dwyer KM, Rubin KH, Knighton-Wisor S, Booth-LaForce C. Parent–child relationships, parental psychological control, and aggression: maternal and paternal relationships. J Youth Adolesc. 2014;43(8):1361–73. [DOI]

9. Mahmoudi N, Mousavi R, Ghobari-Bonab B. Effectiveness of parent-child relationship-oriented group interventions on symptoms reduction among 6–11 years old children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Empowering Exceptional Children. 2018;9(2):65–74. [Persian] [Article]

10. Mirzaei Koutnaei F, Shakerinia I, Asghari F. The associations between parent-child relationship and aggressive behavior among students. J Child Ment Health. 2016;2(4):21–34. [Article]

11. Tambelli R, Laghi F, Odorisio F, Notari V. Attachment relationships and internalizing and externalizing problems among Italian adolescents. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2012;34(8):1465–71. [DOI]

12. Sullivan JM. Parents of children with high-functioning autism: experiences in child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) [PhD dissertation]. [Denton, Texas]: University of North Texas Libraries; 2011.

13. Chorot P, Valiente RM, Magaz AM, Santed MA, Sandin B. Perceived parental child rearing and attachment as predictors of anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms in children: the mediational role of attachment. Psychiatry Res. 2017;253:287–95. [DOI]

14. Ozturk Y, Moretti M, Barone L. Addressing parental stress and adolescents' behavioral problems through an attachment-based program: an intervention study. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy. 2019;19(1):89-100.

15. Galle Girian S, Deireh E. Comparison of the effect of metacognitive therapy and attachment-based therapy on externalizing problems in aggressive children. J Child Ment Health. 2017;4(1):24–34. [Persian] [Article]

16. VanVoorhis CRW, Morgan BL. Understanding power and rules of thumb for determining sample sizes. Tutor Quant Methods Psychol. 2007;3(2):43-50. [DOI]

17. Wei M, Russell DW, Mallinckrodt B, Vogel DL. The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-short form: reliability, validity, and factor structure. J Pers Assess. 2007;88(2):187–204. [DOI]

18. Achenbach TM, Rescorla LA. Multicultural understanding of child and adolescent psychopathology: implications for mental health assessment. New York: Guilford Press; 2007.

19. Panaghi L, Maleki G, Zabihzadeh A, Poshtmashhadi M, Soltaninezhad Z. Validity, reliability, and factor analysis of Experiences in Close Relationship (ECR) Scale. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. 2014;19(4):305–13.

20. Minaee A. Adaptation and standardization of child behavior checklist, youth self-report, and teacher's report forms. Journal of Exceptional Children. 2006;6(1):529–58. [Persian] [Article]

21. Dozier M, Tyrrell C. The role of attachment in therapeutic relationships. In: Simpson JA, Rholes WS; editors. Attachment theory and close relationships. New York: The Guilford Press; 1998. p. 221–48.

22. McNeil CB, Hembree-Kigin TL, Anhalt K. Parent-child interaction therapy (issues in clinical child psychology). Second edition. New York: Springer; 2011.

23. Shawler PM, Elizabeth Bard M, Taylor EK, Wilsie C, Funderburk B, Silovsky JF. Parent-child interaction therapy and young children with problematic sexual behavior: a conceptual overview and treatment considerations. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2018;84:206–14. [DOI]

24. Schilling S, French B, Berkowitz SJ, Dougherty SL, Scribano PV, Wood JN. Child–adult relationship enhancement in primary care (PriCARE): a randomized trial of a parent training for child behavior problems. Acad Pediatr. 2017;17(1):53–60. [DOI]

25. Martel MM. Theories of oppositional defiant disorder. In: Martel MM; editor. The clinician's guide to oppositional defiant disorder: symptoms, assessment, and treatment. First edition. Cambridge, US: Academic Press; 2019.

26. Chris Fraley R, Hudson NW. The development of attachment styles. In: Specht J; editor. Personality development across the lifespan. New York: Academic Press; 2017. p. 275–92. [DOI]

27. Cooke JE, Racine N, Plamondon A, Tough S, Madigan S. Maternal adverse childhood experiences, attachment style, and mental health: pathways of transmission to child behavior problems. Child Abuse Negl. 2019;93:27–37. [DOI]

28. Wright B, Edginton E. Evidence-based parenting interventions to promote secure attachment: findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Glob Pediatr Health. 2016;3:1-14.