Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management Program and Mothers of Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Objectives: Present study is designed to investigate the effect of stress management training by using cognitive behavioral method on stress of mothers of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Methods: The study was done in a quasi-experiment designed as pre-post-test with control group. The participants were 20 mothers of oppositional defiant disorder children, ages from 4 to7 years old. They were randomized to experimental (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. The experimental group trained stress management program with method of cognitive-behavioral during 10 sessions, once a week. During this period, the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups were assessed by Parental Stress Index in pretest and posttest. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results: Findings indicated that a significant difference between the mean of stress of two groups in posttest in both child and parent domains and the stress scores were significantly decreased in experimental group after intervention. Discussion: Regarding to the positive effects of stress management by using cognitive-behavioral method can be suggested as an effective method for mothers with Oppositional Defiant Disorder children to reduce their stress and control their child’ behavior.