Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Barclay's behavior management training program and behavior management survey chart program on family emotions and parent-child relationship in parents of elementary school students with aggression disorder. Aggression, with behaviors that are performed in response to frustration or provocation and can lead to harm to oneself or others, is one of the most common reasons for referral to child and adolescent mental health services (Connor, et al. , 2019). Aggression is any behavior that is done to harm another person. However, aggression, irritability, hostility and anger are often used interchangeably. Specifically, aggression includes harassment, hostility and dissatisfaction (Moore, et al, 2022). Expressively, reactive aggression is characterized by negative affect and/or emotional incapacity (eg, often referred to as "hot-tempered"), which predisposes the individual to impulsive reactions after provocation, while proactive aggression is characterized by low emotion. (e.g., “cool” or lack of emotional arousal) and high levels of instrumentality directed at obtaining benefits and/or rewards in the absence of arousal (Romero-Martinez, et al, 2016). Research shows that aggression is associated with many negative life outcomes, for example, aggression in childhood and adolescence is associated with suicidal thoughts and depression (Hill, et al., 2020), violent delinquency (Diclemente & Richards, 2022).

According to psychologists, the main cause of aggression is family factors (such as the emotional atmosphere of the family and the child-parent relationship) (Mami & Naderi, 2013). Family is the key word of every person's life that a baby enters for the first time after birth (Gallarin & Alonso-Arbiol, 2012). In the early stages of life development, children's main interactions are with their parents. Parents may guide their children through interaction with them (Anderson & Keim, 2016). A high-quality parent-child relationship is often defined as mutual interaction and synchronization between parents and children (Anderson & Keim, 2016). Parents who have high-quality relationships with their children also enjoy their role as parents (Rostad, et al, 2016). One of the family-related factors that affects behavioral problems, including children's aggression, is the family's emotional atmosphere (Kienser & Kerr, 2004). The emotional atmosphere of the family refers to the favorable and favorable relationship of the child with the parents (Rezaee, et. al., 2014). A person's psychology and behavior has a lot of influence (Shakarami, et. al. 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to identify and investigate effective interventions in this field. Among the identified effective interventions is education for parents.

Studies show that the family plays a significant role in the interaction between the student and the school, the importance of this issue is highlighted when the family has underlying problems (Veiga, et. al., 2016). (William & Bryan, 2013) believe that the variables of warm and intimate relationships, parenting styles, parental support, flexibility in the way of management and discipline in the family, and balanced parental supervision of children in an emotional and appropriate atmosphere are meaningful. It affects the behavior of students. It is clear that the disruption of the functioning of the family system will lead to the disruption of the behavior and functioning of its members, so that the presence of inappropriate communication in the family, instability and instability of the family leave a very devastating effect on the psyche of the child, and a child who lives in such an environment grows, shows hostile and aggressive behaviors (Nazir, et. al., 2012). Therefore, it is necessary to identify and investigate effective interventions in this field.

Training using the behavior management survey chart is one of the components of the training and treatment packages prepared for parents with problem children. In the parental behavior management program, parents are taught strategies to manage behavioral problems and improve the quality of the parent-child relationship, including positive parent-child participation, increasing parental attention to adaptive behaviors, and increasing parent-child communication. It also includes teaching parents to prepare instructions for the child, use clear instructions, respond with positive and warm attention especially when the child exhibits desirable behavior, and reduce the risk of reinforcing negative behavior by not focusing on minor disturbances. Helander, et al., 2022). How to confront the child with logical consequences, without using strict punishment methods, can lead to the reduction of aggressive behaviors in children with disobedience disorder. But so far, no research has investigated two combined educational methods, including the behavior management survey chart program and Barclay's educational program, on the parent-child relationship in parents of elementary school students with aggression disorder.

This semi-experimental research was pre-test, post-test, and had an extended follow-up with control and experimental groups. The statistical population of this research includes all the students of Khayyam Boys' Elementary School in Kermanshah who were studying in the academic year 2018-2019. The research sample consisted of 40 parents of aggressive children aged 7 to 12 years old, of which 20 were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups based on available sampling. In order to implement the sampling process, AGQ aggression questionnaire was implemented as a screening test for students who were willing to cooperate. Then, 40 people whose score was one standard deviation higher than the mean in aggression subscales were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups, taking into account the entry and exit criteria. The research tools included the family emotional climate questionnaire, the parent-child relationship questionnaire, and the AGQ aggression questionnaire. The behavior management training program was implemented for 9 sessions of 90 minutes for the experimental group and after 2 months, both groups were followed up. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the behavior management training program is effective on the emotional atmosphere of the family and the child-parent relationship of aggressive students. According to the findings of the research, parent behavior management training based on a regular and organized program can play a significant role in reducing behavioral problems such as aggression and is also effective in improving the parent-child relationship and the emotional atmosphere of the family. In this research, the behavior management training program as an efficient method gives parents the necessary training so that they can implement these trainings in order to manage the behavior and improve the emotional atmosphere of the family in order to reduce the aggression of their children. It can be acknowledged that the behavior management training program has greatly affected the emotional atmosphere of the family. It is necessary to investigate the effect of behavior management training in other cultures and also in the long term. In addition, it is suggested that behavior management training courses be held in centers and clinics for children with similar behavioral disorders.