Journal of Counseling Research

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Somaye Kazemian , Ebrahim Naeimi Aim: This study aims to investigate the characteristic of assertiveness of mothers of delinquent adolescents. Method: The statistical population of the study consists of mothers of adolescents with delinquency living in Tehran. Convenience sampling was used to select study participants. The sample size was 15 people in each group (treatment and control groups). Consistent with qualitative research methodology, semi-structured interviews were used for collecting data about participants’ assertiveness. The resulting data from description of interaction between the couples were analyzed using phenomenological theory. Results: What was seen in studying the quality of assertiveness in mothers with delinquent adolescents included: a). withdrawn with care for others (others’ interests – following, accepting others’ talks, escaping response, playing victim), b). aggression with focus on self (dogmatic, uncaring, argumentative, dependence, competition as opposed to cooperation), c). withdrawal and submission to situation and conditions (hopeless, not believing self, blaming others, taking roles), d). withdrawal and parental role ambiguity (indecisive, lack of monitoring - unorganized monitoring, imbalance in motivation for daring behaviors – easy-taking, uncaring. Conclusions: The data from qualitative interviews were analyzed using three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. The results showed that, in the sample under study, most mothers of delinquent adolescents tended to be more passive and less assertivene.

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This qualitative study was done for the purpose of comparing the couple relationships in the view of mothers of children with disability and mothers of normal children. For doing this qualitative study , 12 mothers with mentally retarded children in the daily rehabilitation center of Ahang and 12 mothers with normal children who referred to quarter houses of Nabi Akram and Chaharsad Dastgah , were chosen by convenience sampling method. General and open questions in the subject of co-parent communication were expressed through in-depth interview. The information gained from interviews analyzed and coded with content - analysis method and with the Strauss-Corbin model. The results have also shown that parents of normal children communicate better than parents of mentally retarded children. In terms of self-attention and having talking skills , paying attention to life partner and using healthy communicational patterns , parents of normal children are in a better situation , but there was no noticeable difference in the problem-solving methods in both families. Relationships among couples are one of the crucial basics of the family which play an important role in adapting family members with the suffering member. Thus , it needs more researches in the context of couple relationships in these families. furthermore , since mothers have closer relationship with the disabled child , they face more impairment both physically and emotionally. So they need more educational programs and incorporeal supports.

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Purpose: The pourpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of instruction of model of healthy family on resiliency in mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Qom, Iran. Method: Quasi experimental design was adopted in which pre-test, post-test, and control group were deployed. The sampling population of the present study included all mothers of children with ASD of Qom in 2016. In so doing, 30 participants were selected based on simple random sampling among those mothers willingly participated in instructional sessions of model of healthy family. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental (n=15) and control group (n=15). During an identical condition, data from both groups were collected by means of demographic information questionnaire resiliency and then analyzed as the pre-test. Subsequently, during a period of 10 sessions participants of experimental group were instructed the model of healthy family, whereas control group received no specific instruction. After that, both groups participated in a following post-test and data were analyzed using ANCOVA. Results: The results discovered that instruction of model of healthy family has a meaningful and positive impact on resiliency (P<0/05) in mothers of children with ASD. Conclusion: All in all, based on the results of the present study, the model of healthy family, as an appropriate treatment, can have a considerable efficacy on recovery of resiliency in mothers of children with Autism ASD. 

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Aim: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based parenting training on parenting styles of mothers with mentally retarded children. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group study. The study population consisted of all the mothers of mentally retarded children attending exceptional elementary school in Bojnord between 2018 and 2019. Twenty-four volunteer mothers were selected and divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received acceptance and commitment-based parenting training, and the control group did not receive any training. The Baumrind Parenting Styles Questionnaire was used in this study. The data were analyzed by multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance. Findings: results showed that acceptance and commitment based parenting training increased authoritative parenting style and decreased permissive parenting style (p≤0/01). Moreover, acceptance and commitment-based parenting training did not have significant effect on authoritarian parenting style (p≥0/05). Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment-based parenting training can improve parenting styles of mothers with mentally retarded children.

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Parent-child interaction and the factors that lead to the improvement and promotion of this interaction are among the important and favorite fields for researchers. The present study was conducted to develop a curriculum for positive parent-child interaction, based on the lived experiences of parents of children with ADHD. This research is of qualitative type which has been done using phenomenological methodology. The study population consisted of mothers with children having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who referred to counseling clinics in welfare districts 1 and 3 of Tehran during the year 2020 who had first-hand experience of the phenomenon. Purposeful sampling included mothers with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. After administering the CSI-4 Child Symptoms Questionnaire (Gado and Sprafkin 1997) and the Parent-Child Interaction Questionnaire (Pianta 1994) to these mothers, those who scored above average were interviewed in a semi-structured interview and this process continued until a theoretical saturation was reached. Interviews were analyzed using the seven-step Claysian method. By adapting the obtained sub-themes below these main themes with the characteristics of the stages of change of Prochaska and Norcross 1992 (translated by Avadis Jans, 1399), the steps of the positive parent-child interaction program were developed. By analyzing the research findings, the following main themes were identified as characteristics of lived experiences of mothers with positive parent-child interaction with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: Managing the child's energy level, monitoring tasks and responsibilities, supportive and organized mother-child relationship and situation management dependent on hyperactivity. According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the developed program of positive parent-child interaction is practical and counselors can use this program in working with mothers with children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.