Determining the Effectiveness of Behavior Management Training for Mothers on Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Habibi, Diana; Hafezi, Fariba; Amiri Majd, Mojtaba; Asgari, Parviz; Heidari, Alireza

Volume 12 - Articles-1401 MEJDS (2022) 12: 155 | Back to browse issues page

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Habibi D, Hafezi F, Amiri Majd M, Asgari P, Heidari A. Determining the Effectiveness of Behavior Management Training for Mothers on Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. MEJDS 2022; 12 :155-155
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-2890-en.html

Determining the Effectiveness of Behavior Management Training for Mothers on Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Diana Habibi¹

, Fariba Hafezi ^*²

, Mojtaba Amiri Majd³

, Parviz Asgari⁴

, Alireza Heidari²

1- Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University
2- Psychology Department, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University
3- Department of Psychology, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University
4- Department of Psychology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University

Abstract: (775 Views)

Background & Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder is one of the disorders related to people's brain development. At first, attention is paid to its effects on how a person communicates with society and the emergence of his/her unique and repetitive behaviors. People with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to have social problems. Children with autism spectrum disorder experience many crises that cause internalizing or externalizing behaviors. The behavior of these children is often repetitive, harmful, aggressive, and unnatural. Having a child with autism spectrum disorder is considered a challenging experience for parents and affects the foundation of the family in an all-around way. Since autism spectrum disorder causes behavioral problems, it seems necessary to implement training and intervention programs to improve people's problems. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the effectiveness of behavior management training for mothers on internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems of children with an autism spectrum disorder.
Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The study's statistical population comprised all mothers with a child with high–functioning autism who were referred to the comprehensive health rehabilitation center in Tehran City, Iran in the spring and summer of 2019. Thirty qualified volunteers were included in the study using the available sampling method. Then, 15 people were randomly assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group. The inclusion criteria were as follows: having a child with high-functioning autism diagnosed by a resident psychiatrist at Avand Health Rehabilitation Center, having minimum reading and writing literacy to complete the questionnaires, not participating in other treatment programs at the same time, and not receiving individual counselling or drug therapy. The exclusion criteria were as follows: absence of more than two sessions from the intervention and dissatisfaction with meeting participation. The research tools included Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991) and Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (Ehler et al. 1993). The behavior management training intervention was conducted for two months in 8 weekly sessions, each lasting 2 hours for the experimental group. To describe and analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (univariate covariance analysis and t test to compare the averages of two independent groups) were used in SPSS version 24 at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: The results showed that after removing the effect of the pretest, there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups regarding the average scores of internalizing behaviors, including anxiety/depression (p<0.001), withdrawal/depression (p<0.001), physical complaints (p<0.001); externalizing behaviors, including law-breaking behaviors (p<0.001), aggressive behaviors (p<0.001); and other behavioral problems, including social problems (p<0.001), thinking problems (p<0.001), and attention problems (p<0.001) in the posttest.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, behavior management training for mothers with children with high-functioning autism can be used to improve the internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in these children.

Keywords: Behavior management training, Behavioral problems, Autism spectrum disorder

Full-Text [PDF 551 kb] (379 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Rehabilitation

References

1. Benson PR. Coping, distress, and well-being in mothers of children with autism. Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2010;4(2):217–28. [DOI]

2. Bristol MM, Gallagher JJ, Holt KD. Maternal depressive symptoms in autism: Response to psychoeducational intervention. Rehabil Psychol. 1993;38(1):3–10. [DOI]

3. Greenspan SI, Wieder S. Engaging autism: using the floortime approach to help children relate, communicate, and think. Hachette Books, 2007.

4. Aydın A. A comparison of the alexithymia, self-compassion and humour characteristics of the parents with mentally disabled and autistic children. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2015;174:720–9. [DOI]

5. Fami Tafreshi F, Mohammadi MR, Sharifi Saki S, Ahmadi H, Karimi R, Aakhte M. Effectiveness of training applied behavior analysis to parents on increasing self-help of children with autism. Quarterly Journal of Child Mental Health. 2016;3(1):9–18. [Persian] [Article]

6. Bader SH, Barry TD. A longitudinal examination of the relation between parental expressed emotion and externalizing behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. J Autism Dev Disord. 2014;44(11):2820–31. [DOI]

7. Crowell JA, Keluskar J, Gorecki A. Parenting behavior and the development of children with autism spectrum disorder. Compr Psychiatry. 2019;90:21–9. [DOI]

8. Azarnoush L, Gorji Y, Javad Zadeh A. Tasire Amuzeshe modiriyate raftari madarane kudakane 5 ta 12 sale bishfaʹal bar boʹde ravaniye keyfiyate zendegi anha dar shahre Isfahan sale 91 [The effect of behavioral management training for mothers of 5-12-year-old hyperactive children on the psychological dimension of their quality of life in Isfahan city, 2012]. The Third National Counseling Conference. Khomeyni Shahr, Iran; 2012. [Persian] [Article]

9. Kargar M, Asgari Ebrahimabad MJ. Comparing problem solving style and marital adjustment in exceptional and normal children mothers. J Except Educ. 2015;2(130):37–44. [Persian] [Article]

10. Sadeghi A, Shahidi Sh, Khooshabi K. The effectiveness of parent management training on family function in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Family Research. 2011;7(2):175–85. [Persian]

11. Turnbull AP, Turnbull HR. Families, professionals, and exceptionality: a special partnership. Second edition. Columbus: Merrill Pub. Co; 1990.

12. Delavar A. Educational and psychological research. Tehran: Virayesh Pub; 2015. [Persian]

13. Achenbach TM. Integrative guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry; 1991.

14. Minaee A. Adaptation and standardization of Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self-report, and Teacher’s Report forms. Journal of Expectational Children. 2006;6(1):529-58. [Persian] [Article]

15. Achenbach TM, Rescorla L. Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles : an integrated system of multi-informant assessment. ASEBA; 2001.

16. Minaei A, Nazeri S. Psychometric properties of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale–third edition (GARS–3) in individuals with autism: a pilot study. Journal of Exceptional Children. 2018;18(2):113–22. [Persian] [Article]

17. Yazdkhasti F, Oreyzi H. Standardization of child, parent and teacher’s forms of child behavior checklist in the city of Isfahan. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. 2011;17(1):60–70. [Persian] [Article]

18. Ehlers S, Gillberg C, Wing L. A screening questionnaire for Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders in school age children. J Autism Dev Disord. 1999;29(2):129–41. [DOI]

19. Kasechi M, Behnia F, Mirzaei H, Rezafiani M, Farzi M. Validity and reliability of Persian version of high-functioning autism spectrum screening questionnaire age 7–12. Pajouhan Sci J. 2013;12(1):45–54 [Persian] [Article]

20. Akrami L, Mokhtar M, Faramarzi S, Abedi A. The effect of behavioral management and social skills training program on behavioral and adaptive problems of male adolescents with high-functioning autism. Archives of Rehabilitation. 2019;20(4):322–39. [Persian] [DOI]

21. Lazarus RS. Evolution of a model of stress, coping, and discrete emotions. In: Rice VH; editor. Handbook of stress, coping, and health: implications for nursing research, theory, and practice. Sage Publications, Inc; 2012.

22. Balali R, Agha Yousefi A. Asar bakhshiye barnameye amoozeshe valedeyn bar kaheshe moshkelat raftari koodakan [The effectiveness of the parent training program on reducing children's behavioral problems]. Applied Psychology. 2012;5(4):59–73. [Persian] [Article]

23. Aman MG, Mcdougle CJ, Scahill L, Handen B, Arnold LE, Johnson C, et al. Medication and parent training in children with pervasive developmental disorders and serious behavior problems: results from a randomized clinical trial. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009;48(12):1143–54. [DOI]

24. Benson PR, Daley D, Karlof KL, Robison D. Assessing expressed emotion in mothers of children with autism: the autism-specific five minute speech sample. Autism. 2011;15(1):65–82. [DOI]

25. Danforth JS, Harvey E, Ulaszek WR, McKee TE. The outcome of group parent training for families of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and defiant/aggressive behavior. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2006;37(3):188–205. [DOI]

26. Driscoll PL. The influence of self-perception on externalized and internalized behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic literature review [Thesis for PsyD]. [Chicago, US]: The Chicago School of Professional Psychology ProQuest Dissertations Publishing; 2022.

27. Li B, Bos MG, Stockmann L, Rieffe C. Emotional functioning and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in young boys with and without autism spectrum disorder. Autism. 2020;24(1):200–10. [DOI]

28. Webster-Stratton C, Reid MJ, Hammond M. Preventing conduct problems, promoting social competence: a parent and teacher training partnership in head start. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2001;30(3):283–302. [DOI]

29. McCart MR, Priester PE, Davies WH, Azen R. Differential effectiveness of behavioral parent-training and cognitive-behavioral therapy for antisocial youth: a meta-analysis. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2006;34(4):525–41. [DOI]

30. Lin YN, Iao LS, Lee YH, Wu CC. Parenting stress and child behavior problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder: transactional relations across time. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021;51(7):2381–91. [DOI]

31. Ding N, Gao H, Jiang J, Zhai M, Shao H, Fu L, et al. The characteristics and factors of the internalizing and externalizing behaviours of children at high risk for autism spectrum disorder. BMC Psychiatry. 2021;21(1):523. [DOI]

32. 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]