Comparison of the Effectiveness of Anger Management and Parenting Training on Problem Solving Skills in Students with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

Childhood is one of the most important stages of life inwhich the person's personality is established and formed. Most ofthe maladaptation and behavioral disorders in adulthood arise fromignoring the emotional-behavioral problems in childhood and lackof proper guidance in the process of growth and development. Theaim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of angermanagement and parenting training on problem solving skills inchildren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study is a semi-experimentalwith pretest-posttest design involving groups. The study populationincluded all male students with ADHD in Tehran Elementaryschools and their mothers in the academic year 1399-1400; Amongthem, a sample of 36 people was selected using the availablesampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental andcontrol groups. The American Psychiatric Association's AttentionDeficit Disorder Rating Scale, Connors Scale, and Hepner ProblemSolving Questionnaire were used to collect data. For experimentalgroups, parenting and anger management training based oncognitive-behavioral approach were held in 8 sessions of 70minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention. The results of the analysis showed that parenting andanger management training can improve problem solving skills inchildren with ADHD (P <0.05). The results of analysis of variancetest with differential score showed that anger management trainingon problem solving skills of children with ADHD is more effectivethan parenting training. These results support use of anger management andparenting training along with educational courses for children withADHD in order to prevent the occurrence, exacerbation andtransformation of symptoms of this disorder.