The effectiveness of the Mentalization -based program (mother and child) in children's behavioral problems

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Children's behavioral problems have one of the highest importance in any society, so that its improvement has a fundamental role in the future of any society. Treatment based on mentalization is a psychoanalytic intervention that can play an important role in improving this problem. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of treatment based on mentalization in children's behavioral problems. Methods: This semi-experimental research was a pre-test-post-test type with a control group. The sampling method was voluntary. The volunteers of the experimental group were given a pre-test before the implementation of mentalizing interventions, and after the intervention, the post-test and the control group did not receive any intervention, but they also took the pre-test and post-test. The sample group of first and second grade students had behavioral problems. The research tools included the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) and the Achenbach-Child Behavior Inventory (CBCL). In this research, analysis of variance and Bonferroni's post hoc test were used to check the difference in means and data analysis was done with the help of SPSS 24 software. Results: The results showed that treatment based on mentalization on children's behavioral problems in the areas of anxiety/depression (P<0.001), withdrawal/depression (P<0.001), physical complaints (P<0.001), thinking problems (P< 0.001), law breaking behavior (P<0.001) and aggressive behavior (P<0.001) were effective. Conclusion: It can be concluded that treatment based on mentalization is effective in reducing children's behavioral problems as a treatment method and can be used to reduce children's problems.