Journal of Child Mental Health
Year:2016 | Volume:3 | Issue:2|Papers Count:10

Background and Purpose: Family function is an important aspect of family environment which affect physical, social and emotional health of the children. The function of families with children with oppositional defiant disorder may falter. The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT) and family-focused therapy (FFT) on function of families with children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).Method: Current study is an experimental research with pretest and posttest and control group.The population consisted of all families with children with oppositional defiant disorder who referred to counseling centers in Sanandaj in 2016. The sample consisted of 36 families who were selected using convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to one of the two experimental groups (treatment with CPRT, or treatment with FFT) or the control group. Data were collected using the measure of family functioning (Epstein, Baldwin and Bishop, 1983). The experimental group received a 10-session training course (2 hours/ per session), while the control group did not receive any training.Results: According to the findings, both experimental groups showed significant improvement on family function comparing to control group. Furthermore, comparing to FFT therapy, CPRT therapy had a greater influence on the improvement of family function.Conclusion: Using the two therapeutic methods discussed in this study is an important step toward improving the family function.

Background and Purpose: As a result of the dramatic increase in mental health illness rate, we have witnessed a growing concern about children’s psychological health and its effect on child development in recent years. Therefore, current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of attachment-oriented therapy and social skills in children with oppositional defiant disorder.Method: Present research had a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and control group.The study population consisted of all boys with oppositional defiant disorder who were studying at the institutes of Isfahan in 2015-16 academic year.30 boys were with oppositional defiant disorder were selected using nonprobability sampling method, and then, their mothers were invited to participate in the study. The experimental group received a ten-session course on attachment oriented therapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The study instruments included children and adolescents mental health assessment questionnaire (Sprafkin, Lani, Unitat and Gado, 1984), Randolf’s attachment quality questionnaire (2004), and Matson’s social skills (1983). Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance.Results: Findings suggested that attachment-oriented therapy had a significant effect on the components of attachment quality and social skills of children with oppositional defiant disorder (P<0.05).Conclusion: According to our findings, attachment-oriented therapy can be administered to improve attachment quality and social skills in the children with oppositional defiant disorder.

Background and Purpose: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent childhood disorders which can affect children’s academic achievements and performance. The purpose of the present study was to compare the academic achievement in elementary students with and without Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder in Tehran, Iran.Method: Present study had causal-comparative design. The study population consisted of all elementary students in the city of Tehran. Sample consisted of 160 third to fifth elementary school students (80 students with ADHD and 80 students without ADHD) who were selected using random sampling method. For diagnosis of ADHD, the 18-item ADHD checklist (Ghanizadeh & Jafari, 2010) was completed by the teachers. Academic achievement of two groups was calculated using students’ GPA on four courses (Persian, Writing, Math, and Science) in previous academic years. Independent sample t-test was used for data analysis.Results: Results indicated that ADHD group had a significantly lower academic achievement comparing to normal group (p<.01). In addition, female students with ADHD showed higher academic achievement comparing to male students with ADHD (p<.05).Conclusion: In order to prevent academic wastage among elementary students with ADHD, early identification and treatment of such children is recommended.

Background and purpose: Stuttering disorders are among the disorders which their etiology is not entirely clear yet, and more psychological research is needed to clear our understanding of this disorder. Therefore, present study aimed to compare cognitive emotion relgulation, metacognition, and early maladaptive schemas in adolescents with stuttering and normal adolescents.Method: present study was a casual-comparative research. The study population consisted of all the secondary school students in Hamadan with stuttering who referred to speech therapist in the third quarter of 2013.21 patients suffering from stuttering and 21 normal individuals were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Young Schema Questionnaire (1998), cognitive emotion regulation (Garnfsky, Krayj & Aspynhavn, 2001), and meta-cognition Inventory (Wells, 2002). Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of variance.Results: The results showed that comparing to normal adolescents, adolescents with stuttering use more maladaptive strategies and less adaptive strategies. Furthermore, groups showed significant differences in terms of their metacognition and schemas (p<.001).Conclusion: According to our findings, in comparison to normal adolescents, adolescents with stuttering have higher levels of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, metacognitive beliefs, and early maladaptive schemes.

Background and purpose: Due to their parenting styles, many parents ruin their children’s opportunity to think about the problems and find solutions for them, which may increase the likelihood of behavior problems in children. Various training packages have been designed and administered in order to help parents, and raising a thinking child is one of them. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of raising a thinking child training, as a familybased training method, on problem solving, parenting style, and parent-child interaction.Method: The sample group consisted of Parents of 40 preschool and first grade children, who voluntarily participated in the workshop. Present research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and without control group. The workshop included nine weekly two hours training sessions. Data were collected using parenting methods questionnaire (Shokohi-Yekta & Parand, 2006) and parent-child relationship inventory (Gerard, 1994). Parents completed the questionnaires in pretest and posttest.Results: The findings showed that problem solving training has significantly improved parents’ parenting style (p<.01). Furthermore, the training significantly affected the subscales of satisfaction and relationship in parent-child relationship (p>.05).Conclusion: The raising a thinking child package can help parents to use effective strategies, such as problem solving rather non-effective methods like punishment.

Background and purpose: The theoretical foundations of hope therapy have rarely been used to improve the psychological symptoms among adolescent girls, and there are few data available about the effectiveness of group hope therapy. Present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of group hope therapy on the treatment of depression, loneliness, and self-efficacy in girl students.Method: The present research was experimental study with pretest-posttest design and control group. The study population consisted of all tenth and eleventh grade female students who were studying in the district one schools of Rasht in 2014-2015 academic year.200 female students were selected using random cluster sampling method and filled out Beck depression inventory (1971), Asher loneliness (1983), and Sherer and Adams self-efficacy scale (1985) as their pretest.After scoring and screening the questionnaires, 30 students with the lowest scores were selected and randomly assigned to experimental (n=15) or control groups (n=15). The control group received no intervention, while the experimental group received an eight-session (90 min/ per session) group hope therapy.Results: the results of univariate analysis of covariance showed that comparing to control group, experimental group scored significantly lower on depressed mood and loneliness (p<.05).However, the groups did not differ significantly in terms of self-efficacy (p>.05).Conclusion: Group hope therapy is an effective way to decrease depression and loneliness in female high school students. Based on these results, it is suggested that educational counselors use group hope therapy in working with students with mood disorder or loneliness.

Background and purpose: Due to the increasing number of orphans and their maladaptive behaviors and emotional disorders, it is necessary to pay special attention to this population.Present study aimed to compare the aggression and emotional knowledge between orphanage and abandoned children with normal children.Method: The present study was a causal-comparative research. The sample consisted of 64 male children aged four to six years old (32 orphans and abandoned children and 32 non-orphans), who were selected using convenience sampling method and were assessed using Preschool Aggression Questionnaire (Vahedi et al, 2008) and emotional matching task (Izard et al, 2003). Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test and MANOVA.Results: Result of independent sample t-test showed significantly higher levels of aggression in orphans and abandoned children comparing to non-orphans (p=0.0001). Moreover, orphans and abandoned children showed significantly lower emotional knowledge comparing to non-orphans (p=0/0001). In addition, results of MANOVA revealed that orphans and abandoned children had significantly lower scores in components of emotional knowledge (p<.05).Conclusion: Present study showed that children’s aggression and emotional knowledge is mainly influenced by parents’ parenting styles.

Background and purpose: living in a single-parent family can lead to some disorders and affect their progress and prognosis. For this reason, investigating the behavior problems in these children has significant importance. Current study aimed to compare students of single-parent and two parent families in terms of their behavior problems.Method: Current research was an Ex-Post Facto research.100 single-parent elementary school students (50 girls and 50 boys) were selected using convenience sampling method from schools of Tehran (under the coverage and support of Imam Khomeini Committee). In addition, 100 two parent elementary school students were selected using clustering sampling method from schools of Tehran. Data were collected using Ruther children questionnaire, and analyzed using ANOVA.Results: Results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that single-parent students have significantly more behavior problems comparing to two-parent students. Students, who were raised by a single parent, showed higher levels of aggression-hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, antisocial behaviors, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. In addition, findings indicated significant gender difference between boys and girls; in another words, girls showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorder.Conclusion: Children experience more behavior problems in single-parent families - in which father is not present or cannot manage the family due to physical or mental disorder.

Background and purpose: Various studies show that emotion affects time perception. On the other hand, clinical reports indicate that individuals with autism have more difficulties in time processing. Present study aimed to compare the effects of emotional events (happy, sad, and neutral) on time perception in children with and without autism.Method: Present research was a retrospective study.13 high functioning children with autism, aged 5 to, were selected using convenience sampling method among the clients of autism centers of Tabriz. In addition, 13 children without autism were selected using convenience sampling method. Two groups were matched in terms of age and sex. Autism range inventory (Ehlerz & Gillberg, 1993) was used for screening the high-functioning autistic children. Then, time reproduction task (in both 2000 and 7000 ms) was performed in both groups. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance.Results: Results showed that children with autism had lower time reproduction rate in both durations comparing to normal group (P=0.001).Conclusion: The observed underestimation in this research is consistent with models of attention, which indicate that attention impairment is one of the primary deficits in autistic children that can lead to distraction and underestimation.