Formulation and Validation of Social Cognition Training Program and its Effectiveness on Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant in 7 to 9 Years Old Children

oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most common externalizing disorders in childhood and one of the most common psychiatric disorders among clients of health centers. The purpose of this study was to formulate and validate a social cognition training program and determine its effectiveness on symptoms of oppositional defiant.

The present study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, after reviewing the literature, therapeutic theories and concepts in the field of social cognition and training program were developed. Then, ten clinical and child psychologists determined the content validity of the training program. In the second stage, a semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and follow-up with a control group was used. The statistical population consisted of all male students aged 7 to 9 years in Tehran schools during 2019-2020 that were evaluated by two-stage sampling. In the first stage, screening was performed. In the second stage, 30 children according to inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The social cognition training program was administered to the experimental group for 10 sessions, and after one month, the experimental group was followed up. Data was collected using Hormerson et al. oppositional defiant disorder rating scale.

The results indicated that social cognition training program has acceptable content validity. Furthermore, the results of training intervention showed that social cognition training significantly reduced the symptoms of ODD in children and this effect was significant in the follow-up phase.

Social cognition training program can be considered as a valid and effective program for alleviation of ODD symptoms in children.