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The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Treatment for Children on Behavioral Problems in Children with Cancer: A Single Case Study
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Zahra Sharifi   , Maryam Esmaeili * , Azadeh Moghaddas |
| University of Isfahan , m.esmaili@edu.ui.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (863 Views) |
Introduction: Cancer, as a chronic physical-psychological condition, challenges the regular and continuous process of life and has numerous behavioral consequences for the child. Based on this, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of mentalization therapy on behavioral problems in children with cancer. In this way, the subjects' baseline was determined. In the next step, mentalization therapy for children was carried out for 12 sessions of 45 minutes individually and in parallel for the child and the mother.
Methods: The method of this research was semi-experimental with a single case structure and A-B-A design. The statistical population of the research was all children aged 9 to 12 with cancer in Seyed al-Shohda Hospital in Isfahan city in 1402, from among them, four children were selected by available sampling method. Before the intervention, the performance of the subjects was evaluated for three sessions, using the child behavior list of Achenbach et al. and during this period, no intervention was provided to improve the performance of the subjects. In this way, the subjects' baseline was determined. In the next step, mentalization-based therapy for children was carried out for 12 sessions of 45 minutes individually and in parallel for the child and the mother, and at the end of the sessions, their performance was measured using research tools. After the completion of the intervention sessions, the performance of the subjects was examined again in three separate times. Visual analysis of graphs and trend index, stability index, percentage of non-overlapping data, and percentage of overlapping data were used for data analysis utilizing SPSS and Excel software version 24.
results: The result of the data analysis indicated the positive effect of this intervention on behavioral problems, including internalized and externalized behavioral problems in children with cancer; So, the scores of behavioral problems of the participants in the intervention phase were reduced compared to the baseline phase. The percentage of non-overlapping data was also reported as 75 to 12.5 percent and the percentage of overlapping data from 87.5 to 25 percent. Also, the effect size for these children varied from 0.09 to 1.43, which is considered a favorable effect size.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, mentallization-based therapy for children was effective in reducing the behavioral problems in children with cancer. Therefore, it is suggested that psychologists and counselors use this new method of psychotherapy as a useful and effective tool to reduce the behavioral problems in children with cancer. |
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| Keywords: Mentalization based therapy for children (MBTC), cancer, behavioral problems |
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Full-Text [PDF 357 kb]
(291 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2024/10/27 | Accepted: 2025/01/29 | Published: 2025/01/29 | ePublished: 2025/01/29
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