Comparing Meaning Therapy and Quality of Life Therapy for Improving Parent–Adolescent Interaction in Maladjusted Students
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Objective: This study compared the effectiveness of meaning therapy and quality of life therapy in improving parent-adolescent interaction among maladjusted students.
Methods and Materials: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control-group design with a two-month follow-up was conducted with 48 male adolescents aged 16-18 years who were referred to Tehran Department of Education counseling centers in 2025. Participants were purposively recruited and randomly assigned to meaning therapy, quality of life therapy, or control groups (n = 16 each). Parent-adolescent interaction was assessed with the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mixed-design ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests.
Findings: The time × group interaction was significant, F = 5.78, p < .001, partial η² = .216. Both meaning therapy and quality of life therapy produced significant improvements compared with the control group. The adjusted posttest mean difference was 5.94 points for meaning therapy versus control (p = .017) and 8.52 points for quality of life therapy versus control (p < .001), while the two intervention groups did not differ significantly (p = .622). Improvements remained stable at the two-month follow-up.
Conclusion: Meaning therapy and quality of life therapy were both effective in strengthening parent-adolescent interaction in maladjusted students, with no evidence that either intervention was superior. The findings support their use as school- and family-oriented psychological interventions for adolescents experiencing adjustment difficulties.
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