Comparison of the Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Parenting and Choice Theory Parenting Programs on Mother's Parenting Stress in Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Background: Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most common childhood manifesting disorders, and the mother's distress is an essential predictor for ODD. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based parenting and choice theory parenting programs on parenting stress in mothers of children with ODD.

Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design with the control group. The population consisted of all mothers with children of 7-12 years old with ODD in Tehran, Iran. Forty-five mothers were selected and then randomly divided into two experimental groups (each group with 15 people) and one control group (15 people) using the convenience sampling method. The experimental groups underwent mindfulness-based parenting (8 sessions of 90 minutes) and choice theory parenting (12 sessions of 90 minutes) programs, but the control group remained on the waiting list. To collect the data, Hommersen et al.’s Oppositional Defiant Disorder Rating Scale (ODDRS) and Abidin’s Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software.

Results: Mindfulness-based parenting and choice theory parenting programs were effective on decreasing parenting stress in mothers (P < 0.05). In addition, the results showed that mindfulness-based parenting was more effective than the choice theory parenting program (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: It can be concluded that mindfulness-based parenting and choice theory parenting programs can be used as a treatment method for parenting stress in mothers with children with ODD in counseling centers.