Effectiveness of Attachment-Oriented Therapy on the Quality of Attachment and Social Skills in Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Background and 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.
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.
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 According to our findings, attachment-oriented therapy can be administered to improve attachment quality and social skills in the children with oppositional defiant disorder.