Effects of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy on Behavioral Problems of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Iran

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an important behavioral disorder that causes considerable individual and social difficulties, creating significant emotional distress for preschoolers and their caretakers. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) on behavioral problems of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Ahvaz, Iran. Methods: This was a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study with an experimental and a control group. The statistical population comprised all children aged 5-12 years visiting psychology and psychiatry clinics in Ahvaz (Iran) in 2020 who were diagnosed with ADHD by specialists. A sample of 30 children was conveniently selected and randomly allocated to experimental and control groups (n= 15 per group). The research instrument was The Child Symptom Inventory (CSI-4). Analysis of covariance in SPSS-24 was used to analyze the data. Results: In the post-test, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of ADHD signs and symptoms was 28.33 ± 4.65 in the experimental group and 32.67 ± 3.65 in the control group. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the research variables (symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder) (P 0.001). Conclusion: As the findings supported the effectiveness of PCIT on the behavioral problems of children with ADHD, workshops are recommended to be held on the treatment of behavioral problems in these children and their parents.