Comparing the Effectiveness of Psychological Training based on Olson and McMaster Models in Enhancing Family Functioning of Female Teachers

The present study set out to compare the effectiveness of psychological training based on Olson and McMaster models in enhancing family functioning of female teachers. This quasi-experimental research had a pretest-posttest control group follow-up design. The statistical population of the study was comprised of 550 married female teachers in the Khorramdarreh County in school year 2016-17. The sample was composed of 45 teachers who had obtained the highest scores on McMaster Family Assessment Device (Epstein, Bishop & Levin, 1978). The scores were indicative of low family functioning. These teachers were randomly assigned to experimental group 1 (N=15), experimental group 2 (N=15), and a control group (N=15). The experimental groups participated in training sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end of the training, the posttest was administered to all the three groups. The follow-up study was also carried out one month later. The collected data were analyzed via mixed MANOVA. Results showed that psychological training based on McMaster and Olson models was effective in enhancing family functioning of female teachers and this effectiveness lasted over time (P≤0.001). Results also demonstrated that there was no difference between the effectiveness of the two models as to the family functioning of teachers. Therefore, it can be concluded that McMaster and Olson models can be utilized for improving family functioning of female teachers.