Comparison of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral and psychotherapeutic therapy on symptoms of externalized disorders in children

Psychotherapy is a type of emotional discharge that reopens a specific personchr('39')s personality problem and presents aspects of his life and its comparison with cognitive-behavioral therapy can determine their effectiveness; Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral and psychotherapeutic therapy on the symptoms of externalized disorders in children aged 7 to 12 years.

Methods and Materials: 

The research method is quasi-experimental (quasi-experimental) studies with pre-test, post-test and follow-up with a control group. The sample group was available among 24 children who were registered at Ava Mehr Pasargad Counseling Center to diagnose the symptoms of externalized disorder and met the necessary criteria to participate in the study, 24 people were randomly selected. They were divided into two experimental groups and one control group. Cognitive-behavioral and psychotherapy were performed for the experimental groups, but the control group did not receive any special intervention. The research instruments included the Achenbach Child Behavior Inventory Questionnaire (parentschr('39') version). Analysis of covariance and Tukey post hoc test were used to analyze the data and examine the relationships between variables.  

The results showed that there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychotherapeutic therapy in the variables of aggressive behavior and law-breaking behavior in the post-test stage (P≥0.001) but there was a significant difference in the follow-up stage in the law-breaking behavior variable. (P≤0.001) According to the effect size values for the variables of aggressive behavior and lawless behavior in cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychotherapy, it was found that the effectiveness of psychotherapy is more than cognitive-behavioral therapy. (P≤0.001)

It seems that psychotherapy is more useful than cognitive-behavioral therapy in improving aggressive and law-breaking behaviors.