Effectiveness of Mindful Parenting Training on Positive Self-Expression and Mood of Female Students with Internalizing Disorders

Ebrahimi Rad, Houra; Sajjadian, Ilnaz

doi:10.22055/psy.2023.43321.3014

Effectiveness of Mindful Parenting Training on Positive Self-Expression and Mood of Female Students with Internalizing Disorders

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Houra Ebrahimi rad ¹

ilnaz sajjadian ²

¹ Master of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan), Isfahan, Iran

² Associative professor, Department of psychology, Isfahan(Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

10.22055/psy.2023.43321.3014

Abstract

Introduction
In the past years, paying attention to the child and related issues has become important in psychology, and much research has focused on examining the psychological problems of this group, its causes and treatment. Experts divide these problems into two main groups based on behavioral characteristics: the first group is externalizing disorders, and the second one is internalizing disorders. Internalizing disorders include feelings of inferiority, high self-awareness, social withdrawal, shyness, fear, excessive attachment, and chronic sadness, which are often manifested due to irregularities in mood and emotions. Studies have shown that mood disorder is one of the main characteristics of internalizing disorders in children, so it can be expected that the clinical manifestations of these disorders will decrease with the improvement of mood. In addition to mood, weakness in self-expression causes the child to not be frank in expressing his feelings and opinions and not to act decisively, his self-confidence and social adaptability decrease, and he becomes vulnerable to internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression. It seems that it is possible to draw their attention to the outside world by increasing positive self-expression in children with internalizing disorders. Therefore, the best solutions for treating children's mental disorders are family-based interventions, and one of the most efficient interventions is mindful parenting training. Empirical evidence supports the effectiveness of mindfulness parenting training in improving child behavioral problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of mindful parenting training on the positive self-expression and mood of students with internalizing disorders.

Method
The present research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a one-month follow-up. The statistical population was made up of all female students with internalizing disorder in the second year of primary school in Isfahan city in the academic year of 2018-2019 with their mothers. After coordinating with the mothers who were willing to participate in the research (n=104), Achenbach's child behavior list was provided to them in both software and paper forms. Among these people, mothers who reported T scores higher than 63 in the dimension of internalizing disorders in this list for their children were examined based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria (48 people), and of these 30 mothers along with their children who met the entry criteria and were selected. After assigning 30 student mothers in two groups of 15 people, test and control, a meeting was held to express the goals of the training course, the goals of the research, and the implementation of the pre-test. The research tools included the temperament scale (Malhotra, 1993), self-expression scale (Gambrill and Reggie, 1975), which were provided to the research groups in the form of software. Then, 8 90-minute sessions of mindful parenting training were conducted for the experimental group. The control group remained on the waiting list during this time and did not receive any intervention. Finally, after one month of the training sessions, the mothers were invited to participate in the follow-up session, and the questionnaires were provided to them again. For statistical analysis, SPSS software version 22 was used in this research to analyze the data, and the analysis of variance test with repeated measurements was used to test the hypotheses.

Results
In the variables of positive self-expression and mood, the difference between the two experimental and control groups in the pre-test is insignificant. However, in the post-test and follow-up stage, the difference between the control group and the group of mindful parenting education is significant in positive self-expression and mood (p<0.05). The effect of parenting training in improving positive self-expression in the post-test and follow-up phases is equal to 18.7 and 21 percent, respectively, and in improving mood in the post-test phase is equal to 27.6 percent and in the follow-up, phase is equal to 36 percent. According to the results, it can be concluded that mindful parenting training is effective on positive self-expression and mood of students with internalizing disorder, and the effects of training remain in the follow-up phase.

Discussion
Considering that this research was conducted on female students in 2018-2019, therefore, caution should be taken in generalizing the results to other groups and time periods, and it is also suggested to conduct similar research on male students in other educational levels. And other cities to provide a benchmark to compare the results. It is also suggested to conduct follow-up sessions in 3-month periods and study boys and girls with externalizing disorder in order to check the effectiveness of the intervention. According to the obtained results, it is suggested to the experts in this field to use conscious parenting training in order to increase positive self-expression and improve the mood of the female students of the second year of elementary school.

Keywords

mindful parenting training

positive self-expression

mood

internalizing disorder

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