Effectiveness of Coping Therapy in Reducing Behavioral-Emotional Problems of Children and Maternal Stress of Their Mothers

Parenting stress affects children as a source of pressure. Involvement of parents in coping therapy designed to help their children¡ can reduce these negative outcomes. The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of coping therapy in reducing parenting stress and behavioral-emotional problems in children. To do so¡ The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) was administered on a sample of 200 mothers. Then 51 of those who scored highest in PSI were cho-sen and randomly assigned to the two experiment-tal (N=26) and control (N=25) groups. Both groups completed the Strenghts and Difficulties Questionnaire. Quantative data were analyzed using pretest-posttest¡ correlation coefficient¡ and multiple covariance analyses. Results indicated that after intervention¡ mothers in the experi-mental group showed lower level of stress¡ as compared to mothers in control group. Children of mothers in experimental group showed less behavioral problems than children of mothers in the control group.