Comparison of the Effectiveness of Child-Parent Relationship Trianing and Barkley’s Parent Training in Behavioral-Emotional Problems of Children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective: One of the most common childhood disorders is attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of child-parent relationship trianing and Barkley’s parent training in behavioral-emotional problems of children with ADHD.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow-up. The statistical population of the study included all mothers with a son with ADHD. These mothers’ children were studying in one of the primary schools in Ahvaz in the academic year 2021-2022. They were selected through random clusters sampling method and randomly were assigned to child- parent relationship therapy (n = 15), Barkley’s parent training (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Moreover, Clinical interview, Children’s Behavior Checklist and SNAP-IV training Scale were instruments of collecting data. Achenbach Behavior Scale was used to collect data. The child-parent relationship group participated in ten 60-minute sessions; the Barkley’s parent training group participated in fifteen 60-minute sessions. However, the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed using mixed analysis of variance using SPSS software (version 25).Results:  The results of intragroup effects showed that child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training were effective in the behavioral-emotional problems in the posttest phase (P 0.05); they reduced children’s emotional-behavioral problems. However, the effects were not sustained (P 0.05). In addition, there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training in children’s emotional-behavioral problems (P 0.05).Conclusion: According to the results of the study, child-parent relationship therapy and Barkley’s parent training were effective in emotional-behavioral problems of children with ADHD. Therefore, clinical psychologists and counselors are recommended to use these methods to reduce emotional-behavioral problems of children with ADHD.