The efficacy of mother's training on behavioral and emotional problems of bereaved preschool children

The purpose of this study was an investigation of the effectiveness of mother's behavioral training on emotional and behavioral problems of bereaved preschool children. In this clinical trial, sampling method was purposeful, so mothers with children 4 to 6 years who were referred to Imam Zaman Social Work Association in Isfahan in the year of 2010-2011, and they were asked to answer the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, SCL-90-R and demographic questionnaire, 18 mothers with the higher scores of emotional and behavioral problems in their children were selected by random sampling. They were then randomly allocated in to two groups each contains 9 mothers as control and experimental groups. The experimental group received the training in the 8 sessions (90 minutes) in the Social Work Association, while the control group was in waiting list control. The two groups complete the post and follow up (3 month fallow-up) measure. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS15 software. Results showed the significant effect of mother's group training on reduction of emotional and behavioral problems of bereaved preschool children (P<0.01). Results also showed significant difference two groups in the all subscales of emotional and behavioral problems (emotional problems in post test, conduct, ADHD, peer problems) except subscale emotional problem in follow up. It seems that mothers’ training is effective in reducing the emotional and behavioral problems of bereaved preschool children.