Comparison of the effectiveness of filial therapy and package of parent-child interaction consultations on psychological well-being of preschool children

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of filial therapy and package of parent-child interaction consultations on psychological well-being of preschool children.  Methods: The research design was a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test-follow-up with the control group. The statistical population of the study included all mothers with preschool children in Isfahan in 2019. 45 mothers were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly and equally assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The research tool included psychological well-being questionnaire for preschool children (Dehghani, 2013). The first experimental group received 8 90-minute sessions of effective parent-child interaction intervention (Bahrami et al., 2021) and the second experimental group received 8 90-minute sessions of filial therapy intervention (Bratton et al., 2006). Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the effect of the filial therapy intervention and parent-child interaction counseling package on the psychological well-being of preschool children (F=10.203) was significant (P<0.05). Also, a comparative comparison between the two interventions showed that in the cognitive and educational aspects of psychological well-being, a significant difference was observed in favor of the effective parent-child interaction intervention. Also, the effect of filial therapy and effective parent-child interaction on the dependent variable continued in the 60-day follow-up phase. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be stated filial therapy and effective parent-child interaction can play an important role in increasing the psychological well-being of preschool children