Comparing the effectiveness of child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) and mother-child attachment therapy on the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder

This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) and mother-child attachment therapy on the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder.

In terms of the purpose of the present research, it was a quasi-experiment with a pre-test and post-test design with two experimental groups and a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the research included all children aged 10 to 12 years who referred to a counseling center in the 8th district of Tehran in 2022, 30 people were randomly selected in two experimental groups (10 people each) and one group Control (10 people) were assigned. The research tools include the Children’s Symptoms Inventory (CSI-4), child-centered cognitive behavioral therapy protocol based on Kendall & Hedtke's coping cat program (2006) and mother-child attachment-based therapy (MCAT) protocol derived from Purnell (2004) and King & Newham (2008).

The findings indicate that both treatments were effective on oppositional defiant disorder. The efficacy of both was stable in the follow-up phase according to the Bonferroni post hoc test. The results of data analysis show that there is no significant difference between their effectiveness and both are equally effective (p<0.05).

It can be concluded that MCAT and CCBT were effective in the treatment of children's oppositional defiant disorder. Therefore, it is suggested that specialists use these two approaches in therapy.