Effects of Advanced Parenting Training on Children's Behavioral Problems and Family Problem Solving

Abstract

Dealing with everyday life problems, learning problem solving skill is vital for individual. Children's problems as well as family crisis can be prevented by problem solving training. In this regard, a number of problem solving workshops have been designed for parents and their children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the workshops titled educating thoughtful child, in which problem solving strategies have been taught to mothers. In these workshops children are trained for understanding feelings and opinions of others as well as their motives, finding multiple solutions to a problem, considering the consequences of their action and sequential planning by utilizing a number of lessen plans. The study sample group included 38 mothers of children who were studying in some private schools in Tehran. These workshops were held in 9 sessions of 2-hours once a week by experienced instructors. The current study is quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design without control group. Data were collected using Children's Behavioral Problems Questionnaire and Family Problem Solving Scale. Findings indicated a significant effect on reducing children's behavioral problems, however, there was no significant effect in the area of family problem solving. It seems that these workshops can be used as an effective intervention method for reducing children's behavioral problems. Finally, discussion and conclusions, limitations and recommendations for future research are presented.