Effect of Therapeutic Interventions on Behavioral Problems of Abused Children

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions on psychiatric problems of abused children. In current quasi-experimental study، 73 children (43 boy and 30 girl) referred to child and adolescent psychiatry clinic due to psychiatric problems or to the emergency unit، clinic and pediatric ward in Imam Hossien Hospital due to physical problems were examined and non-pharmaceutical interventions and treatments (play therapy، behavioral therapy، cognitive therapy، life skills training، occupational therapy، counseling actions and school counseling، anger management training، and parenting) were administered based on family and child needs. Parenting skills training was given during 8 weekly 90-minute group sessions based on a positive parenting program. However، 2 out of 8 sessions were dedicated to describing child abuse and physical punishment and their negative effects over child and the methods of anger management. A psychologist filled out the child abuse questionnaires by receiving information from parents and from a pre-intervention interview with child. Child Behavioral Checklists (CBCL) were completed by parents prior and in the third and sixth months after intervention. The length of therapeutical interventions for every individual was 3 months. Finally، 40 interventions were completed. The data analysis was by repeated measures analysis of variance. The results revealed examinees’ considerable improvement in subscales including attention problems، anxious-depressed problems، social problems، delinquent behaviors، aggressive behaviors، internalizing and externalizing problems، and general problems (for all subscales p=0. 0001). To reduce the consequences of child abuse، early recognition and continuous intervention seems effective.