Child-Parent Relationship Therapy for Earthquake-Affected Preschoolers: A 1-Year Controlled Study

This study examined the effectiveness of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) among earthquake-affected preschool children and their mothers in Türkiye.

Using a quasi-experimental controlled design, participants were assigned to experimental (n = 12), placebo (n = 12), and control (n = 12) groups. Parental empathy, parent-child relationship and children's posttraumatic emotional distress, affective and behavioural problems were assessed at pretest, posttest and 2-, 6- and 12-month follow-ups.

Mothers in the CPRT group showed significant improvements in empathy. Children's loneliness/sleep problems decreased short term, while emotional distress and impulsivity declined significantly at 1-year follow-up. However, fear/anxiety scores increased across all groups, and no significant group differences were found in emotional-behavioural problems or parent-child relationship scores.

CPRT emerged as an effective intervention in some aspects of children's posttrauma well-being, yet ongoing environmental stressors and parents' psychological conditions limited the sustainability of therapeutic gains.