The Role of Group Training of Mothers with CBT in Reducing Conduct Disorders among 6-10-Year-Old Boys

The present study was carried out with the aim of investigating the role of group training of mothers with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in reducing conduct disorders among 6-10-year-old boys. The research method was semiexperimental with control group pretest post-test design. The population of the study consisted of all mothers who sought advice due to conduct disorders of their sons at the counseling department of Tehran's Health Cultural Center within a period of 6 months. The instrumentation consisted of the Rutter Parent Scale A2 and a structured interview. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were utilized and the sample comprised 16 mothers who were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Each of these two groups included 8 individuals. The experimental group received 7 training sessions in how to modify and improve behavior through CBT. Each session was held for about 120 minutes per week. The control group had no training within this time interval. Data analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics and comparison of the difference between pretest and posttest scores using T test for independent groups. The results of hypotheses testing revealed that some were confirmed (P<0.01) and they indicated that group training of mothers with cognitive behavior therapy can reduce some of the symptoms of conduct disorder. Furthermore, the findings showed that the techniques had more effect on increasing children's social adjustment. Despite the fact that mothers exaggerate the symptoms of their children (according to the literature), the findings were indicative of the significance of training of mothers in reducing children's conduct disorders.