The Effect of Proactive Parenting Therapy and Positive Parenting Therapy on Internalizing and Externalizing Problems of Children

The type of parenting style can play as a vital role in both internalized and externalized problems. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of proactive parenting and positive parenting therapies on externalized and internalized problems of children.

The method of this study has been quasi-experimental, pretest and posttest design alongside a control group. The statistical population of the study included most parents with their elementary school students in Shiraz who had referred to counseling clinics due to psychological problems during the autumn 2020. The statistical sample were 45 mothers with their children who were divided into three groups of 15 people through a convenience sampling method. Two of these groups were experimental and one was assigned as a control group. In order to collect data, Child symptom inventory-4 (CSI-4) checklists by Sprafkin and Gadou as well as Conners behavior problems questionnaire related to parents were applied.

The results of the analysis of covariance indicated that the effect of proactive parenting therapy on internalized problems [P = 0.001, F (26-1) = 68.15] and externalized problems [P = 0.001, F = (26-1) =44.04] of children was meaningful and significant.

Proactive parenting style is mostly relied on reactions. This provides the chance for the active presence of parents instead of being merely the observers of the events.

The results indicated that these therapies can enable parents to apply approaches to deal with children internalized and externalized problems.