Parent Management Training and Parent Training on the Islamic Basis: A Randomized Control Trial for Children's Externalizing Problems

One of the most prevalent mental health problems in children is externalizing problems, which have irreversible consequences. Given the need to design interventions tailored to the beliefs and culture of each society, this study evaluated the efficacy of a parent training program based on the growth structure of the Qur'an, referred to as the Tayyib-oriented approach. This program was compared with the Parent Management Training (PMT) program concerning their effects on externalizing problems and the mother-child relationship in Iranian preschool children. Thirty mothers from two preschool centers (age = 6, 29 boys, one girl), identified as being in the clinical range of the Child Behavior Checklist and who had completed the Child-Parent Relationship Scale, were selected. The centers were randomly assigned to the Tayyib-oriented and PMT groups. Both groups received eight sessions of intervention. Posttest and 3-month follow-up tests were conducted. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance statistical methods, which showed a significant reduction in externalizing problems and improvement in the parent-child relationship in the Tayyib-oriented group. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups. The parent training program with the Tayyib-oriented approach, applied for the first time in this study, significantly affected children's externalizing problems and enhanced the child-parent relationship. Its effect was comparable to that of the PMT, an evidence-based therapy for externalizing problems in children. This Qur'an-based parenting can be used in Islamic societies.