Reducing Children Behavior Problems: A Pilot Study of Tuning in to Kids in Iran

Objectives: Parental responses to children’s negative emotions play a key role in developing emotional competence. Poor emotional competence has been linked to disruptive behavior problems in children. The Tuning in to Kids program is a new emotion-focused parenting intervention for preschoolers. The Tuning in to Kids aims to improve children’s behavior by changing mothers’ emotion socialization practices including teaching emotion coaching skills and reducing dismissing of children’s emotion. This study is an introductory evaluation of an 8-session group parenting program, Tuning into Kids, for mothers of preschool children with behavior problems in Iran. Methods: Fiftyfour children (aged 3 to 6), who were screened via preschools and agreed to participate in the research, were randomized into intervention or waitlist control condition. Mothers in the intervention group attended the six-sessions of the Tuning in to Kids program followed by two booster sessions at two-monthly intervals thereafter. Mothers completed the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, the Parent Emotional Style Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire prior to the intervention, immediately following intervention completion, and at three months follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS 22.  Results: Mothers in the intervention group reported significantly less emotion dismissing and child behavior problems than controls at 3-month follow-up (P≤0.01); there were no significant differences for emotion coaching and maternal mental health in either condition (P≥0.05). Discussion: The Tuning in to Kids program appears to be a promising parenting intervention for mothers and children with disruptive behavior problems, offering a useful addition to usual programs used in Iran.