The Effect of Emotion Regulation Training on Behavioral Problemsin Children with Intellectual Disability

his study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion regulation training on behavioral problems in children with intellectual disability. The study method was an experimental design (pretest, and post-test) with experimental and control groups. Participants comprised 10-18 year-old students from Exceptional Schools at Tehran City in 2018-1019 school year, selected by in convenience sampling method. Forty-four students who got 60 points and higher in the Children Behavior Check List (CBCL) (Achenbach, Dumenchi, & Rescorla, 2001) randomly selected and assigned to the experimental and control groups randomly and equally. The experimental group participated in 16 training sessions (each session was 50 minutes) and received an emotion regulation program but the control group only received the mainstream program in the school. All subjects were evaluated by the CBCL before and after the intervention sessions. The data were analyzed by the analysis of covariance. The findings showed that participation of the experimental group in emotion regulation training sessions has led to a significant reduction (P<0.001) of behavioral problems, internalizing, and externalizing problems in comparison to the control group. Therefore, planning and administration of emotion regulation training in exceptional centers can help students learn how to manage and express their emotions to prevent behavioral problems.