Treating mothers of aggressive children: a research study

In this empirical investigation, three conditions in the group therapy of aggressive children were compared: Child only treatment, Mother + Child treatment, and a notreatment control. The 75 participating children, all Druze from two cities in Israel, were assigned equally and randomly to the three conditions, 25 children in each. In addition, the mothers of these children participated in the study, with 25 of them treated in groups. A semi-structured treatment program using bibliotherapy was conducted, with some modifications, in the two therapy conditions. Results indicated that, compared to the control group, both treatment conditions were effective in reducing aggression, although the Mother + Child condition showed significantly greater gains on the children's self-report measure. With regard to maternal coping, gains were greater in the Mother + Child treatment group than in the Child treatment group on four of six subscales. Finally, three associations were found between reductions in children's aggression and changes in maternal coping.