The Effectiveness of Filial Therapy on the Quality of Parent-Child Interactions and Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with Behavioral/Emotional Problems

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of filial therapy on the quality of parent-child interactions and health-related quality of life in children with behavioral/emotional problems.

The present study was a quasiexperimental study with a pretest, posttest, and control group. The statistical population consisted of all mothers of children with behavioral/emotional problems visiting counseling centers in Isfahan, Iran, from among whom 30 people were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received eight sessions of filial therapy in one-hour weekly group sessions, while the control group received no training. The data collection instruments were the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire (Penta et al., 1996) and the Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. (Landgraff & Abbots, 1996).

Filial therapy increased closeness and reduced dependence and conflict in the parent-child relationship. Also, filial therapy was an effective intervention in improving the health-related quality of children.

Filial therapy is effective in improving the parent-child relationship and health-related quality of life of children.