Efficacy of dyad art therapy on attachment component and the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most common disorders in school-age children, closely associated with attachment problems. In various studies, dyad art therapy has been identified as effective in improving attachment components. Still, research that has focused on the efficacy of dyad art therapy on ODD has received less attention.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a dyad art therapy program developed by researchers on attachment components and symptoms of ODD.

This study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The research population was all clients with a diagnosis of ODD aged 7 to 9 years who were referred to the counseling center of Arak Islamic Azad University in the spring of 2021 and 24 of them were selected by convenience sampling method and assigned to experimental and control groups. The research instruments were Kinship Center Attachment Questionnaire (2006) and the Homerton ODD Rating Scale (2006). The dyad art therapy program was performed as an independent variable and its efficacy was evaluated using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that after the intervention, in the total scores of the attachment components Questionnaire (f= 86.542, p< 0.01) and its subscales in the experimental group, scores were significantly increased and the symptoms of ODD decreased (f= 47/35, p< 0.05).

According to the findings, it can be concluded that dyad Art therapy can improve the components of attachment and reduce the symptoms of ODD.