Enhancing Emotional Awareness in Children with Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder: A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy and the Coping Cat Program
Keywords:
emotional awareness, oppositional defiant disorder, Coping Cat programAbstract
Children with symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder commonly experience difficulties in identifying, understanding, and regulating their emotions. These difficulties may negatively affect the quality of parent–child relationships, social adjustment, and emotional development. Therefore, identifying effective interventions for improving emotional awareness in this population is of particular importance. This study aimed to examine and compare the effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy based on the Coping Cat program in improving emotional awareness among children with symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. The study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group was used. The statistical population comprised all children with symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder in District 2 of Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year. From this population, 45 children were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: Parent–Child Interaction Therapy, the Coping Cat program, and a control group. Data were collected using Rieffe’s Emotional Awareness Questionnaire and analyzed using mixed-design analysis of variance. In the qualitative phase, 21 parent–child dyads from the two intervention groups participated in semi-structured interviews, and the data were examined using deductive content analysis. The quantitative findings indicated that the interaction effect of time and group on emotional awareness was statistically significant. Compared with the control group, Parent–Child Interaction Therapy produced a significant improvement in emotional awareness, whereas the Coping Cat program did not differ significantly from the control group. Moreover, the direct difference between the two interventions was not statistically significant. The qualitative findings further indicated that the two interventions contributed to the enhancement of emotional awareness through different mechanisms.
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