See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/355817324

The Effect of the Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Package

With An Emphasis on the Internet Use: A Mixed Methods Approach

Article in Practice in Clinical Psychology · July 2021

DOI: 10.32598/jpcp.9.3.746.2

CITATION READS

1 332

3 authors, including:

Anahita Khodabakhshi-Koolaee
Khatam University
139 PUBLICATIONS 884 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Anahita Khodabakhshi-Koolaee on 27 January 2022.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Research Paper:: The Effect of the Parent-Child

Relationship Enrichment Training Package With An
Emphasis on the Internet Use: A Mixed Methods Approach
Bahareh Boor Boor1 , Anahita Khodabakhshi-Koolaee2* , Mohammad Reza Falsafinejad3

1. Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2. Department of Psychology & Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran.
3. Department of Assessment and Measurement, Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

Use your device to scan

and read the article online
Citation: Boor Boor, B., Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, A., Falsafinejad, M. R. (2021). The Effect of the Parent-Child Relationship
Enrichment Training Package With An Emphasis on the Internet Use: A Mixed Methods Approach. Journal of Practice in Clinical
Psychology, 9(3), 199-210. https://doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.9.3.746.2
https://doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.9.3.746.2

ABSTRACT

Objective: In the current world, one of the parent-adolescent communication challenges is

Article info: overusing the Internet and digital devices. The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness
Received: 15 Mar 2021 of the parent-child relationship enrichment training package with an emphasis on Internet use
Accepted: 21 May 2021 in parents and their adolescent daughters.
Available Online: 01 Jul 2021 Methods: This study was conducted using the exploratory sequential mixed methods design.
The research population consisted of parents and their female adolescent children studying in
the junior secondary school in District 11 of Tehran City, Iran, in 2020. In the qualitative phase
of the study, 15 parents were selected using the purposive sampling method, and then semi-
structured interviews were held with them. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed
using Strauss and Corbin’s (2014) grounded-theory approach to extract related categories
and subcategories. Afterward, the parent-child relationship enrichment training package was
developed with an emphasis on Internet use. The participants in the intervention group received
the training for twelve 1.5 hour sessions. The collected data were analyzed using the multivariate
analysis of covariance in SPSS v. 21.
Results: The validation results showed that the parent-child relationship enrichment training
package was effective in promoting media literacy (F=310.972; P<0.05), improving the mother-
child relationship (F=57.76; P<0.05), improving the father-child relationship (F=1503.863; P<0.05),
and reducing the problematic use of the Internet in female adolescents (F=402.084; P<0.05).
Conclusion: The parent-child enrichment education intervention with emphasis on Internet
Keywords: use was designed to fit the context and lifestyle of female adolescents studying in District 11
Cyberspace, Girls, Parents, of Tehran. It can help parents reduce adolescent-parent conflicts and improve the quality of
Adolescents adolescent-parent interaction.

* Corresponding Author:
Anahita Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, PhD.
Address: Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran.
Tel: +98 (21) 8917 4119
E-mail: [email protected]

199
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Highlights

● The parent-child relationship is one of the most fundamental emotional bonds between human beings. The family grows
through this bond. However, this bond is affected by parental psychological conditions, social change, and technology.

● Constant access to the Internet and the use of digital devices by children have increased parents’ concerns. They are
apprehensive because they have no control over the content and the amount of this use.

● This study explores their concerns and fears about using the Internet in the Iranian community by interviewing par-
ents of adolescents. Also, by analyzing the interviews, the researchers tried to design an educational package to enrich
the parent-child relationship.

● The results indicated that the parent-child relationship enrichment training package effectively increased the parent-
child relationship in adolescents.

Plain Language Summary

Parent-child relationship enrichment training programs help parents to learn the best ways to relate with their chil-
dren. Nowadays, the parent-child bond is influenced by the Internet and digital devices. Adolescents spend less time
with their parents. The present research revealed that parents are concerned about the use of the Internet by adolescents.
In addition, the researchers designed an educational package to enrich the parent-child relationship.

1. Introduction all aspects of human life, and all daily affairs have un-

A
dergone significant qualitative and quantitative changes
dolescence is a sensitive and particular (Boor Boor, Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, & Falsafinejad,
period, very different from the periods 2021).
before and after it. Sociologists and psy-
chologists consider this period a very vi- In the present era, the world is moving towards invis-
tal one in the life of every human being. ible horizons under the influence of information explo-
Family as the first place in which a person starts living sion, technological achievements, and the breaking of
is of great importance. The family environment and the cultural boundaries. Globalization and communication
way parents communicate and respond to their children technologies and mass media have turned the world
play a major role. Besides, the parent-child interaction, into a small village, and the cultures, values, norms, and
family structure, common parent-child experiences, role customs of societies have undergone dramatic changes.
division among family members, power relations in the One area that has experienced significant changes un-
family, coping and problem-solving methods, training der the influence of globalization is the family with its
and behavior control strategies, family support, and fam- changing functions (Carvalho, Francisco, & Relvas,
ily functioning all affect adolescents (Shahbazi, , Khoda- 2015). Research has shown that ICT has created qualita-
bakhshi-Koolaee, Davodi, & Heidari, 2020). tive changes in family functioning, made new interaction
modes, and rearranged family communication patterns
Challenges between parents and their children are a (Stafford and Hillyer, 2012). Given the speed of techno-
rapidly growing phenomenon in Iran. Adolescents spend logical advancement, its impact on life experiences has
less time with their parents. The adolescent-parent re- become an interesting topic for research. However, the
lationship is often associated with significant anxiety research on its effects on family dynamics is still in its
at this critical stage of development. Negative parent- infancy (Appel, Holtz, Stiglbauer, & Batinic, 2012).
adolescent relationships disrupt family functioning and
emotional bonds between family members, lead to prob- Parents have always had many concerns about Internet
lematic sibling relationships and increase conflicts be- use, which has overwhelmed their lives. The growing
tween family members (Sanagoei, Etemadi, Sayyed Ah- impact of the Internet on family functioning, especially
madi, & Jazayeri, 2016). The emergence of Information parent-child interaction, is remarkably uncontrollable
and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed (Verkuyl and Hughes, 2019).

200 Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210.
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

The positive and negative aspects of the virtual world junior secondary school in District 11 of Tehran in the
are obvious for everyone. However, one of the concerns 2019-2020 academic year. The qualitative data were col-
of parents and adolescents today is the lack of proper lected and saturated using semi-structured interviews
familiarity and media literacy. In general, parents are with 15 parents. They were asked questions such as:
concerned about the psychological, social, cultural, mor- “What difficulties do you have with your child?” or “To
al, and economic factors that unintentionally threaten what extent do you think your problems with your child
adolescents. In general, people are afraid of unknown relate to internet use?” The questions were developed
things and often show this fear as a threat in their re- based on empirical studies in the literature. The valid-
lationships. The differences and conflicts between par- ity of the questions was already checked by several
ents and adolescents are also because of the improper subject-matter experts to ensure the absence of bias or
knowledge and understanding of the virtual world. This directionality, and the questions were revised based on
research seeks to explore the opportunities and threats of the received feedback. Then, the primary categories and
the virtual world from the perspective of Iranian parents subcategories were extracted using Strauss and Corbin’s
with a mixed methods approach. Also, we do not know (2014) analytical method, as shown in Table 1.
to what extent Iranian parents consider this environment
and how the virtual world has fueled the communication The interviews were conducted in the counseling cen-
challenges of parents and their daughters. ter so that interviewees could speak with confidence.
The interviews were conducted in person before the
The study aims to identify the parent-child communica- COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. Each interview lasted 45 to
tion challenges in Internet use. It also seeks to develop 90 minutes and the average interview time was about 48
a parent-child relationship enrichment training program. minutes. In the end, the interviewees appreciated their
Implementing this program can promote skills needed to cooperation. After completing the interviews, they were
manage Internet use and improve media literacy. Besides, transcribed verbatim. As a precaution, all transcripts
the insights from this study can be used by all institu- were copied so that the analysis process could be done
tions, organizations, and ultimately families who seek to on the copies. This action ensured that the analysis pro-
prevent harms caused by cyberspace and communication cess could be repeated if there was any problem with
conflicts between parents and children over Internet use. data analysis. The qualitative phase of the study was
conducted in the 2019-2020 academic year. The valid-
2. Materials and Methods ity of the questions asked in the interview was reviewed
and confirmed by the experts in the field. However, other
This study was conducted using the exploratory sequen- questions were asked during the interviews if necessary
tial mixed methods design (Corbin and Strauss, 2014). To to enrich the data. To ensure the credibility of the find-
this aim, the research procedure began by collecting the ings, after analyzing each interview, the researcher re-
qualitative data followed by the quantitative data. Fur- ferred to the participants again and asked them to check
thermore, conventional qualitative content analysis was the accuracy of the content.
used to identify the components needed for developing
the training program, and a quasi-experimental method Furthermore, to assess the transferability of the find-
with a pretest-posttest design and a control group was ings to similar situations and groups, the selected par-
employed to assess the effectiveness of the devised pro- ticipants were the parents of adolescent children of dif-
gram. Figure 1 shows the procedure taken to conduct the ferent ages and in various high schools. To ensure the
study. In the quasi-experimental phase, 32 adolescents dependability of the research procedure, the findings
were selected through a simple random sampling method were peer-checked and confirmed by subject-matter ex-
and randomly assigned to the control and intervention perts. Finally, to ensure the confirmability of the results,
groups, each with 16 members Caplan (2010). The data the researchers tried not to involve their assumptions in
were collected using the media literacy questionnaire, the data collection and analysis. Informed consent was ob-
generalized and problematic internet use scale, and the tained from the participants for taking part in and record-
parent-child relationship survey (Fine et al. 1985). ing the interviews. The participants were told that their
participation was voluntary and they could leave the
Phase 1: The qualitative phase study at any time. They were also ensured that their iden-
tity information (names, phone numbers, and addresses)
In the qualitative phase, the participants were selected would be confidential. Moreover, after transcribing the
using the purposive sampling method. They were the interviews, the participants’ voice-recorded files were
parents of female adolescent students studying in the kept in a safe place.

Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210. 201
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Data analysis Data analysis

and collection and collection
Interpreting and
using a using a
reporting the
qualitiative quantitative
data
(developmental) (empirical)
approach approach

Figure 1. The seps taken to conduct the study

Phase 2: The quantitative phase α in the first to fifth dimensions, respectively, as 0.813,
0.899, 0.909, 0.926, 0.773, and totally, 0.971 (Akbarine-
The research population included all female students jad, Soleymani, & Shahrzadi, 2017). The Persian version
studying in the junior secondary school in District 11 of of the inventory was administered to the participants in
Tehran in the 2019-2020 academic year. In the second this study, and its reliability was reported to be 0.95 us-
sampling stage, 60 persons willing to attend the study ing the Cronbach α coefficient.
were clinically interviewed, and 32 persons who met the
inclusion criteria were selected using a simple random The Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS) was
sampling method and were assigned to either control or in- developed by Fine, Moreland, and Schwebel (1985) to
tervention groups (each with 16 members). One additional assess the quality of the parent-child relationship. The
person was placed in each group due to the possible drop scale contains 24 items that are scored in a range of 1 to
out of some participants. Then, a training program was 7. This 24-item tool measures young people’s percep-
implemented for the members of the intervention group. tions of their relationship with their parents. It measures
positive affection, irritation/role confusion, identifica-
Phase 3: The mixed quantitative-qualitative phase tion, and communication. The survey is divided into
two subscales, one assessing “relationship with mother”
This study was conducted using exploratory sequential and the other measuring “relationship with father”. Both
mixed methods design in two stages: scales are the same, except that the words “mother” and
“father” are exchanged. However, different factor loads
Linking: After completing the qualitative phase, ana- have been reported for the two scales.
lyzing the data using conventional qualitative content
analysis, and extracting the categories, the training pro- The father-child relationship scale had an α coefficient
gram was developed to be implemented in the second values of 0.89 to 0.94 for the subscales, and the mother-
quantitative phase. Then, 32 participants were selected child relationship scale had an α coefficient values of
in the quantitative phase and assigned to the intervention 0.61 to 0.94 for the subscales. The α coefficient for the
and control groups (the quantitative phase). whole instrument was equal to 0.96, showing its excel-
lent internal consistency. The items in PCRS can be easi-
Integration: Upon completing the qualitative and quanti- ly scored. Negatively worded items (9, 13, 14) are scored
tative phases, a meta-inferential strategy was used to show reversely. Then, the sum of scores of individual items is
how the qualitative data explained the quantitative data. calculated and divided by the number of items for each
factor to obtain the mean score of the subscale. The total
The data in the quantitative phase were collected us-
score of the survey is the sum of the mean scores of the
ing Shahin’s media literacy questionnaire. It consists
subscales (Fine et al. 1985). The content validity of the
of 29 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale from “very
scale was assessed and confirmed for use in Iran, and its
high” to “very low”. The questionnaire targeted the five
reliability was assessed through the Cronbach coefficient
dimensions of goal-oriented and more selective use of
as 0.91 for the Persian version of the scale (Koolaee, Lor,
messages (questions 1–4), understanding how the media
H. S., Soleimani, & Rahmatizadeh, 2014).
works (questions 5–11), evaluation of media messages
(questions 12–19), the combination of media messages The third instrument used in the study was the gener-
(questions 20–25), and summarizing media messages alized and problematic internet use scale. It was devel-
(questions 26–29). The test validity was confirmed by oped by Caplan (2002) and then revised in 2010. It is
experts in the field of media, communication, and li- a valuable tool to assess the psychological harm caused
brary. The reliability was calculated using the Cronbach

202 Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210.
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

by excessive Internet use from various angles. This scale tions to attract their cooperation. To ensure that the train-
has been translated into German, Italian, Portuguese, ing program did not interfere with the student’s weekly
and Persian. The scale measures 5 areas related to dif- schedule, the day and time of the training sessions were
ferent aspects of the psychological harm: the preference chosen upon the principals’ agreement so that no stu-
for online social interactions, regulating negative mood dent would be absent from important classes. Given the
states, preoccupation, compulsive Internet use, and nega- COVID-19 outbreak and the closure of the schools, the
tive consequences. Each area is measured using 3 items. training course was held online and in the BigBlueBut-
Thus, the scale has a total of 15 items scored on a 7-point ton space during non-school hours. The same training
Likert scale. Therefore, the lowest and highest scores ob- sessions were held for the students in the control group
tained for each item are 1 and 7, and the lowest and high- at the end of the study and following the completion of
est scores on the whole scale are 51 and 105, respectively. the questionnaires after the intervention.

The severity of the harm caused by the problematic use To comply with ethical considerations, the participants
of the Internet is directly related to the score obtained. were assured that their data would be kept confidential.
Therefore, the higher the score, the more severe the Besides, this research project was registered under the
harm. A score of 15 to 45 is normal, a score of 46 to 65 code of ethics ID IR.IAU.SRB.REC.1399.058. The Kol-
shows mild harm, a score of 66 to 85 indicates moderate mogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality
harm, and a score of 86 to 105 shows severe harm. The of the data and the results showed the normal distribution
reliability of the scale was measured using the Cronbach of the data for the auxiliary variables. Moreover, the val-
α coefficient, and the corresponding values for each of ue of Levene’s test was not significant for the variables
the five areas and also the whole scale were estimated of harmful Internet use, media literacy, the father-child
and reported. The Cronbach α coefficients equal to 0.7 relationship, and the mother-child relationship (P>0.05).
or higher were considered the minimum score to confirm To assess the effectiveness of the training program, the
the reliability of the scale. The validity of the scale was questionnaires were re-administered to the participants in
assessed based on the content validity ratio. The valid- the intervention and control groups after the intervention.
ity of 10 items was 100%, the validity of 3 items was Finally, the collected data were analyzed using multivari-
08%, the validity of one item was 40%, and the validity ate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with SPSS v. 21.
of one item was 0. The total validity of the scale was
85.3%. The reliability values for preference for online 3. Results
social interactions, regulating negative mood states,
preoccupation, compulsive Internet use, and negative Phase 1: The qualitative phase
consequences were 87.6%, 91.1%, 89.8%, 90.8%, and
86.2%, respectively. The overall reliability of the scale In the qualitative phase and after extracting the catego-
was estimated at 92.5% (Caplan, 2002; 2010). This scale ries, the related themes were identified using the conven-
was assessed and confirmed for use in Iran, and the pres- tional qualitative content analysis method (Table 1). After-
ent study and its reliability were assessed through the ward, the research model (Table 2) was developed based
Cronbach coefficient as equal to 0.88. on the content presented in Table 1, literature review, and
the instructions provided in the training sessions for en-
Finally, a 12-session training program to enrich the riching the relationship between parents and children.
parent-child relationship was developed following the
findings of the qualitative phase of the study and the Phase 2: The quantitative phase
parents and children’s needs. The developed model was
Table 3 presents the mean and standard deviation of
reviewed by several university professors in the fields
media literacy, parent-child relationship, and the Internet
of psychology, counseling, psychiatry, and psychomet-
problematic use.
rics and was implemented after their confirmation. For
the quantitative phase of the study, two informed con-
Phase 3: The mixed quantitative-qualitative phase
sent forms were signed by the students and their parents,
one copy was delivered to the parents, and the researcher The multivariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
kept the other copy. was run to investigate the effectiveness of the training
program on media literacy, parent-child relationship, and
As with the qualitative phase, the researcher talked to
the Internet problematic use (Table 4). The results showed
the principals of the target schools and provided some
a significant difference between the intervention and con-
information about the study’s objectives and its contribu-

Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210. 203
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Table 1. Main categories, subcategories, and meaning units

Main Categories Subcategories Meaning Units

Education/research Using the Internet for research and study

Education/research Art education

Quick access to information Easy access to useful contents

Education/research Scientific content for research activities

Online shopping/registration Online shopping and registration are easier

Online shopping/registration Less time-consuming

Fast communication with the world and access to up-to-
Education/research
date scientific content
Opportunities such as online shopping, online businesses,
Online shopping/registration
and sharing useful information
Tutorials for exams and solving exercises and educational
Education/research
clips and games
Education/research Suitable useful scientific sites

Cyberspace opportunities Education/research Access to scientific materials around the world

Online shopping/registration Online shopping

Education/research Scientific and artistic websites

Quick access to information Answering the questions

Education/research Access to educational videos and clips

Online shopping/registration Applications like Snapp

Education/research Use of encyclopedias and useful scientific websites

Use of scientific sites to improve scientific knowledge and
Education/research
skills
Quick access to information Useful social art and culinary channels
Opportunities such as distance education, useful scientific
Quick access to information
materials from around the world
Education/research Sample exam questions posted in channels
Filling the children’s free time more with exercise and
Study and leisure
reading
Using consulting services Seeking help from a counselor
Curriculum, scientific and educational programs, online
Study and leisure
courses
Improving communication skills Talking, encouraging, and listening well to the child
Cyberspace coping strategies
Improving communication skills Talking and listening
Informing the adolescent and then allowing him/her to
Improving communication skills
use the Internet
Improving communication skills The need for parental supervision

Improving communication skills Talking and explaining

Problematic internet use
Uncontrollable and unrecognizable friendships, harmful
from the perspective of Inappropriate friendships
and offensive thoughts
parents

204 Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210.
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Main Categories Subcategories Meaning Units

Academic problems Academic failure

Isolation and lack of proper emotional connection with
Isolation
family members
Familiarity with foreign culture Familiarity with foreign culture
Falling behind assignments and daily tasks by spending
Waste of useful time
too much time on the Internet
Watching the content not fitting very well with Iranian
Familiarity with foreign culture
values ​​and culture
Chatting with friends for a long time and using offensive
Waste of useful time
words
Academic problems Children are not taught how to use the Internet properly
Surfing the net causes precocious physical and sexual
Precocious puberty
puberty
Adolescents are very emotional and do not use their
Waste of useful time
intellect much
Academic problems Falling behind school assignments

Waste of useful time Children spending time in vain

Sexual problems/ precocious puberty Relationship with the opposite sex

Wasting time Using unknown programs and applications

Playing inappropriate and violent games not fitting Iranian
Familiarity with foreign culture
values ​​and culture
Sitting in a corner and surfing the net does not allow
Waste of useful time
children to foster their creativity and thinking
Perceiving a significant generation gap between the child
Problematic internet use Isolation
and parents
from the perspective of
parents Inappropriate friendships Communication issues, choosing friends

Encouraging impulsive online shopping Online and undesirable shopping

Buying unnecessary items just under the influence of the
Encouraging impulsive online shopping
Internet ads
Academic problems Decreased creativity

Sexual problems/precocious puberty Sexually-offensive content

Sexual problems/precocious puberty High-risk relationships with other children

Cybernetic deceptions Cybernetic deceptions and lies

Cybernetic deceptions Unfortunately, teenagers are soon fooled by the glamor

Being tempted to associate with people of opposite sex
Sexual problems/precocious puberty
introduced by themselves or friends
Encouraging impulsive online shopping The temptation to buy everything that is advertised
Watching movies and content online sometimes causes
Sexual problems/precocious puberty
children to miss their school assignments
Install sexually offensive movies and games that have a
Sexual problems/precocious puberty
negative impact
Influence of peer groups Suicide/self-harm
Failure to pay attention to personal and educational
Academic failure
activities
Destructive friendships, high-risk and anti-value behav-
Sexual problems/precocious puberty iors, friendships with people of the opposite sex, sexual
issues
Familiarity with foreign culture Failure to pay attention to religious issues, praying

Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210. 205
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Main Categories Subcategories Meaning Units

Influence of peer groups Chatting with strangers not known by parents

Confusion and anxiety about friendships with frequent
Influence of peer groups
sulking and reconciliation
Familiarity with foreign culture Lack of attention to moral issues

Influence of peer groups Tendency to use drugs

Cybernetic deceptions Scams and cybercrime

Problematic internet use
from the perspective of Influence of peer groups High-risk behaviors
parents
Influence of peer groups Learning to get nervous and irritable

Familiarity with foreign culture Attempting dangerous challenges

Sexual problems/precocious puberty Lack of privacy

Familiarity with foreign culture Familiarity with anti-cultural issues

Sexual issues and friendship with the opposite sex,
Sexual problems/precocious puberty
homosexuality
The child does not have a good relationship with the
Communication problems with the parents but listens to them as he/she is afraid of them.
child He/she usually has no contact with anyone and prefers to
sit alone in a corner and play with the phone
Inattention to others, inattention to one’s nutrition, lack
Ignoring the people around of personal hygiene, feeling stress and anxiety when using
the phone
Ignoring the people around The child says he/she would like to be alone at home

Engaging in immoral behaviors Wearing unsuitable clothing

Engaging in immoral behaviors Engaging in unethical issues of delinquency

Communication problems
with the child Sharing and seeing pictures, movies, and video clips with
Engaging in immoral behaviors
sexually inappropriate content
The child has changed a lot because of using the mobile
Disrespect to parents
phone and often uses offensive words
Disrespect to parents Not respecting the parents

Disrespect to parents Ignoring parental advice and instructions

Disrespect to parents Ignoring parental demands

Not listening to parental advice and not behaving accord-
Disrespect to parents
ing to their expectations

tro l groups in improving media literacy (F=310.972; 4. Discussion

P<0 .05), improving the mother-child relationship
(F= 57.76; P<0.05), improving the father-child relation- The present study results showed that the training in-
shi p (F=1503.863; P<0.05), and reducing the Internet tervention was effective in improving media literacy, en-
problematic use (F=402.084; P<0.05). It was also shown hancing the parent-child relationship, and reducing the
that the training intervention improved media literacy, the Internet problematic use among the female adolescents
mot her-child relationship, the father-child relationship, in the intervention group compared to the participants
and reduced the Internet problematic use by 91%, 66%, in the control group after the intervention. Thus, parent-
83%, and 93%, showing the effectiveness of the training ado lescent relationship improvement training was ef-
program to improve the parent-child relationship. fec tive. The study findings on the effectiveness of the
training program in promoting media literacy were con-
sistent with the results of the previous studies (Salehi and
Kermani Bradaran, 2016). The parent-child relationship

206 Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210.
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Table 2. A summary of the training sessions

Sessions Participants Contents

Introducing group members and establishing rapport with them through eye contact and active lis-
Parents and female tening, empathy, building trust, introducing group members to each other, explaining group rules
1
children to the members and explaining ambiguities, familiarity with the training process and program,
administering the questionnaires
Introducing the changes and developments in adolescence, explaining the physical, emotional,
Parents and female
2 and cognitive changes to improve further the relationship between parents and children with a
children
focus on communication problems with the child
Teaching communication skills and the effects of proper verbal communication, the role of words,
Parents and female
3 effective two-way (win-win) discourse with a focus on communication problems with the child,
children
and strategies to deal with the problematic Internet use
Building empathy and mutual understanding in members, providing feedback on problem-solving
Parents and female
4 skills training, and practicing how to use the skills to solve an imaginary problem with a focus on
children
communication problems with the child
Parents and female Conflict management training and how to use conflict resolution strategies in an imaginary situa-
5
children tion with a focus on communication problems with the child
Recognizing and managing anger and emotions with a focus on communication problems with
6 Female children
the child
Media literacy training, entering the age of information media saturation, expanding a realistic
7 Female children view of the media with a focus on cyberspace opportunities and problems from the parent’s point
of view
Critical thinking skills training to identify appropriate content on the Internet with a focus on cy-
8 Female children
bernetic opportunities
Training in Internet use management skills and familiarity with the opportunities and threats of
9 Female children online education and research with a focus on the Internet problematic use from the parents’
point of views
Training in the skills of assertiveness and courage, which was the subject of cyberspace problems
10 Female children
from the parents’ point of views and communication problems with the child
Teaching academic skills (time management skills, effective planning, and study methods) with a
11 Female children
focus on Internet addiction coping strategies
Summing up the discussions and results, evaluate the training sessions, re-administering the ques-
12 Female children
tionnaires

enrichment training program has focused on the com- Internet problematic use as a control variable, implying
munication challenges of using the Internet and helped a reduction in the Internet problematic use of the ado-
the participants raise their awareness and media literacy. lescents who attended the intervention program. Danet
This action improved their knowledge to produce and showed that the use of digital devices by children is a
interpret messages with insight and knowledge and ul- source of concern for 53.1% of parents, while 62.6% of
timately helped reduce their communication challenges. parents consider that the use of information and com-
Furthermore, the parent-child relationship enrichment munication technology in the home affects (positively or
training intervention significantly improved this rela- negatively) their relationship with their children (Danet,
tionship in the participants in the intervention group 2020). Kaur Hansaram indicated that Malaysian parents
compared to the control group, as indicated in the litera- had concerns about using the Internet among their chil-
ture (Cacioppo et al., 2019). dren. They reported the fear that the influence of foreign
culture could impact their culture (Kaur Hansaram, 2020).
Teaching effective communication between parents and
children can significantly manage communication chal- It seems that the development and implementation of
lenges between parents and adolescents and prevent the the parent-child relationship enrichment training pack-
emergence of newer issues. The parent-child communica- age that focused on improving the communication chal-
tion improvement model that focused on communication lenges in terms of Internet use and incorporated the
challenges in the proper use of the Internet helped the fe- necessary interventions for each component of the moth-
male adolescents and their parents improve their commu- er-daughter and father-daughter relationship and media
nication patterns and enhance parent-child interactions. literacy had a positive effect on reducing the problem-
atic Internet use among the participants. In other words,
The results also indicated a significant difference be- when the intervention can simultaneously improve the
tween the intervention and control groups in terms of the

Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210. 207
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the research variables

Mean±SD
Variables P
Control Group Intervention Group

Pre-intervention 53.9375±5.97181 54.1250±5.61991 0.928

Media literacy
Post-intervention 58.1250±5.28993 82.0000±4.14729 0.000

Pre-intervention 4.1927±0.33433 3.9375±0.34258 0.041

Mother-child relationship
Post-intervention 4.2448±0.24574 4.9635±0.26998 0.000

Pre-intervention 3.6536±0.28695 3.5703±0.23556 0.376

Father-child relationship
Post-intervention 3.7604±0.28157 4.5417±0.19896 0.000

Pre-intervention 86.3750±6.11964 85.3125±6.62036 0.641

Internet problematic use
Post-intervention 84.1875±4.13471 63.7500±5.03984 0.000

parent-child relationship and enhance media literacy, it titative studies can be conducted in these fields and other
can reduce the harms associated with Internet use. subcultures in Iran. Furthermore, as the participants in the
present study were female adolescents, future studies can
One of the most critical limitations of this study was focus on other groups such as male adolescents.
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the training
sessions were held online, which led to newer challenges 5. Conclusion
such as Internet disconnection, software problems, and
the participants’ concerns about the effectiveness of The results showed that the parent-child relationship
online training due to the lack of facilities (lack of up- enrichment program was effective in improving media
to-date systems, high-speed Internet connection, etc.). literacy, enhancing the parent-child relationship, and re-
Given the findings and limitations of this study, and since ducing the Internet problematic use among female ado-
Iran has several subcultures, similar qualitative and quan- lescents. Therefore, this training program can be used to

Table 4. Results of the ANCOVA for the effectiveness of the training intervention on the research variables

Sources Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Media literacy 4522.854 1 4522.854 310.972 0.0001 0.916

Error 421.783 29 14.544

Total 162318.000 32

Mother-child relationship 3.890 1 3.890 57.760 0.0001 0.666

Error 1.953 29 0.067

Total 684.479 32

Father-child relationship 5.385 1 5.385 150.863 0.0001 0.839

Error 1.035 29 .036

Total 558.063 32

Problematic internet use 3119.397 1 3119.397 402.084 0.0001 0.933

Error 224.984 29 7.758

Total 179063.000 32 4522.854

208 Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210.
 April 2021, Volume 9, Number 3

reduce the communication challenges between parents Caplan, S. E. (2002). Problematic Internet use and psychosocial
well-being: development of a theory-based cognitive-behav-
and female adolescents.
ioral measurement instrument. Computers in Human Behavior,
18(5), 553-75. [DOI:10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00004-3]
Ethical Considerations
Caplan, S. E. (2010). Theory and measurement of general-
ized problematic Internet use: A two-step approach. Com-
Compliance with ethical guidelines puters in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1089-97. [DOI:10.1016/j.
chb.2010.03.012]
Islamic Azad University, Science and Research
Carvalho, J., Francisco, R., & Relvas, A. P. (2015). Family func-
Branch approved this research (Code: IR.IAU.SRB. tioning and information and communication technologies:
REC.1399.058. How do they relate? A literature reviews. Computers in Human
Behavior, 45, 99-108. [DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.037]
Funding
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of qualitative research:
Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory.
This article reports the results of a doctoral dissertation 4th ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. https://books.google.
by the first author in counseling at the Islamic Azad Uni- com/books?id=hZ6kBQAAQBAJ&dq
versity, Science and Research Branch. Danet, M. (2020). Parental concerns about their school-aged chil-
dren’s use of digital devices. Journal of Child and Family Studies,
Authors' contributions 29(10), 2890-904. [DOI:10.1007/s10826-020-01760-y]

Fine, M. A., Worley, S. M., & Schwebel, A. I. (1985). The parent-

All authors equally contributed to preparing this article. child relationship survey: An examination of its psychometric
properties. Psychological Reports, 57(1), 155-61. [DOI:10.2466/
Conflict of interest pr0.1985.57.1.155]

Kaur Hansaram, S. (2019). Exploring Middle-Class Malaysian

The authors declared no conflict of interest. Parents’ Perceptions and Concerns About Children’s Inter-
net Usage. Stream: Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication,
Acknowledgments 11(1), 21–33. [DOI:10.21810/strm.v11i1.265]

Koolaee, A. K., Lor, H. S., Soleimani, A. A., & Rahmatizadeh,

The authors would like to appreciate the officials in the M. (2014). Comparison between family power structure and
Education Department of District 11 of Tehran and the the quality of parent-child interaction among the delinquent
and non-delinquent adolescents. International Journal of High
parents who cooperated closely and their children. Risk Behaviors & Addiction, 3(2), e13188. [DOI:10.5812/ijhr-
ba.13188] [PMID] [PMCID]

Salehi, A. & Bradaran Kermani, M. (2016). [Phenomenological

pathology of the impact of the Internet and social networks on
morals and religious beliefs of adolescents (Persian)]. Faslnam-
eye Akhlagh, 6(21), 213-40. [DOI:10.22081/JARE.2017.44908]
References
Sanagoei, Z. M., Etemadi. O., Sayyed Ahmadi. A., & Jazayeri.
Akbarinejad, F., Soleymani, M. R., & Shahrzadi, L. (2017). The R. (2016). Exploratory analysis of problems between Iranian
relationship between media literacy and health literacy parents and their male adolescents. Asian Social Science, 12(9),
among pregnant women in health centers of Isfahan. Journal 65-76. [DOI:10.5539/ass.v12n9p65]
of Education and Health Promotion, 6, 17. [DOI:10.4103/2277-
9531.204749] [PMID] [PMCID] Shahbazi, J., Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, A., Davodi, H., & Heidari,
H. (2020). Effects of mindfulness-based self-compassion and
Appel, M., Holtz, P., Stiglbauer, B., & Batinic, B. (2012). Par- attachment-based therapy on self-criticism and mental fa-
ents as a resource: Communication quality affects the rela- tigue of male adolescents with addiction potential. Journal
tionship between adolescents’ internet use and loneliness. of Client-Centered Nursing Care, 6(2), 97-108. [DOI:10.32598/
Journal of Adolescence, 35(6), 1641-8. [DOI:10.1016/j.adoles- JCCNC.6.2.33.9]
cence.2012.08.003] [PMID]
Stafford, L., & Hillyer, J. D. (2012). Information and communica-
Boor Boor, B., Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, A., & Falsafinejad, M. R. tion technologies in personal relationships. Review of Commu-
(2021). Communication Challenges of Parents and Their Ado- nication, 12(4), 290-312. [DOI:10.1080/15358593.2012.685951]
lescent Daughters With an Emphasis on Social Media Use: A
Content Analysis. Journal of Research and Health, 11(4), 235-44. Verkuyl, M., & Hughes, M. (2019). Virtual gaming simulation
[DOI:10.32598/JRH.11.4.1804.1] in bridging nursing education: A mixed-methods study.
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 29, 9-14. [DOI:10.1016/j.
Cacioppo, M., Barni, D., Correale, C., Mangialavori, S., Danioni, ecns.2019.02.001]
F., & Gori, A. (2019). Do attachment styles and family func-
tioning predict adolescents’ problematic internet use? A rela-
tive weight analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(1),
1263-71. [DOI:10.1007/s10826-019-01357-0]

Boor Boor, B. et al. (2021). Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Pack. JPCP, 9(3), 199-210. 209
 This Page Intentionally Left Blank

View publication stats