The Effectiveness of Transactional Analysis on Parent-Child Relationship in Mothers of Children With Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is one of the behavioral disorders that cause significant clinical disorder in a person’s academic, social, and occupational functioning.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Transactional Analysis  (TA) for behavior training on parent-child relationships in mothers with children suffering from defiant disobedience in Isfahan City, Iran.

The present quasi-experimental study used a pre-test-post-test design with the experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this study included all mothers of children with the ODD and their children in Isfahan in 2017. The multistage cluster sampling method was used in this research. Thirty students, whose scores in the child symptom inventory-4 were high and had ODD symptoms, were randomly selected; 15 individuals were assigned to the experimental group and 15 individuals to the control group. Then, the mothers of the experimental group underwent 8 sessions of 90 minutes, each week one session, during a group training for TA. But, the control group did not receive any intervention. The research tool was Fine’s parent-child relationship survey.

The group TA for behavior training had a significant effect on parent-child relationships and its components (P<0.001), including positive affect (F=22.32, P<0.001), role disturbance (F=11.91, P<0.002), and identity determination (F=9.87, P<0.001).

Considering that the TA for behavior training can increase the extent of interactions, it has critical developmental consequences. Therefore, it seems that in clinical situations, by doing these kinds of interventions and promoting the mental health of the parents, positive and lasting steps can be taken to eliminate or relieve children’s behavioral problems.