The effectiveness of parent-child interaction therapy on the improvement of affective index in children

Introdution: Parent-child interactive therapy is considered as an emerging approach to reduce child behavioral problems, which relies on improving parent-child relationship. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of parent-child interactive group therapy on the improvement of affective index in children with methadone-treated parents. Methods: In a clinical trial in the form of a semi-experimental study during the period from June to November 2015, among families who were referred to Bijan Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Tehran who had children of preschool age, 40 children were chosen after screening based on the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) and the child behavior checklist (CBCL), they were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The treatment program was presented to the experimental group for 8 sessions per week. The validity of urines samples was investigated by immunochromatography. Adherence to treatment in the form of urine test was considered as the primary outcomes and affective index was considered as secondary outcomes. Data were analyzed using chi square and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The primary outcomes showed that the frequency of positive urine tests was not significant during the treatment process (p = 0.88). Secondary outcomes showed that interactive treatment in the experimental group was associated with an increase in positive mood (p = 0.44) and a decrease in negative mood in comparison with the control group (p = 0.48). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate the importance of parent-child interactive styles in the prevention and treatment of psychological disorders during the development periods, and it can be considered in designing appropriate interventions.