Emotional-Behavioral Problems

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of painting therapy in reducing emotional- behavioral problems (internalized problems: anxious - depressed, withdrawn-depressed, somatic complaints, and externalized problems: aggressive behavior and rule-breaking behavior) of Children with cancer. Method: The research design was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest and control group with follow-up. Using targeted sampling, 40children (6 to 12-year-old) with cancer, whose score on the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) was one standard deviation above average, was selected and randomly divided into two groups of experiment (n = 20) and control (n = 20), but due to the drop in the number of subjects, it decreased to 31 (16 experimental group and 15 control group). The painting program was performed on the experimental group in the form of 8 two-hour sessions. To analyze the data, the mixed variance analysis method was used. Results: The results showed that although the overall score of the internalized and externalized problems was significantly reduced, painting therapy didn’t affect the somatic complaints (of internalized problems) and the rule-breaking behavior (of externalized problems). Conclusions: The results showed that painting therapy can be an effective way to reduce the emotional-behavioral problems of children with cancer. Therefore the findings of this study can have preventive clinical applications.

Objective: One of the most common childhood disorders is attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of child-parent relationship trianing and Barkley’s parent training in behavioral-emotional problems of children with ADHD.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow-up. The statistical population of the study included all mothers with a son with ADHD. These mothers’ children were studying in one of the primary schools in Ahvaz in the academic year 2021-2022. They were selected through random clusters sampling method and randomly were assigned to child- parent relationship therapy (n = 15), Barkley's parent training (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Moreover, Clinical interview, Children’s Behavior Checklist and SNAP-IV training Scale were instruments of collecting data. Achenbach Behavior Scale was used to collect data. The child-parent relationship group participated in ten 60-minute sessions; the Barkley’s parent training group participated in fifteen 60-minute sessions. However, the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed using mixed analysis of variance using SPSS software (version 25).Results:  The results of intragroup effects showed that child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training were effective in the behavioral-emotional problems in the posttest phase (P < 0.05); they reduced children's emotional-behavioral problems. However, the effects were not sustained (P < 0.05). In addition, there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training in children's emotional-behavioral problems (P < 0.05).Conclusion: According to the results of the study, child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training were effective in emotional-behavioral problems of children with ADHD. Therefore, clinical psychologists and counselors are recommended to use these methods to reduce emotional-behavioral problems of children with ADHD.