The Effectiveness of a Group Training Program Based on Social Skills and Behavior Management in Reducing the Social and Behavioral Problems of Boys Going through Puberty

As well as a time of multiple physical changes, puberty is also a time of significant emotional, psychological, and social change. The present research has been conducted as an effort to examine the effectiveness of a group training program based on social skills and behavior management in reducing the social and behavioral problems of boys going through puberty. This quasi-experimental study had a pretest-posttest control group design.  The statistical population of the study consisted of adolescent boys aged 12-16 who were studying at public schools in Yazd in 2017-18 school year. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was utilized and the sample was drawn (N= 30). The subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. To collect data, the mothers of the subjects completed Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) and Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) (Gresham & Elliott, 2008). The subjects and their mothers were subjected to the training for 30 sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The results of multivariate covariance analysis showed that the training program had a significant effect on aggression (p<0.008), withdrawal (p<0.016), depression (p<0.016), behavioral problems (p<0.013), communication (p<0.001), cooperation (p<0.001), internalizing/externalizing (p<0.001), and responsibility, self-control, and social skills (p<0.001). Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that training mothers and adolescents can play a pivotal role in resolving behavioral and social problems of boys going through puberty.