Exploring Parenting Components for Children with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder: A Qualitative Study

Background: One of the essential factors in regulating the excitement of irritable children is mothers’ parenting style which is effective in self-controlling of these children; therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a parental model based on the attachment theory of children with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Methods: This study was conducted using directed content analysis method with deductive classification system; and purposeful sampling continued with data saturation approach. Attachment texts were analyzed for parental characteristics. First, the concepts associated with parenting were identified and then the extracted concepts were classified based on the main components of attachment theory. Finally, the validity and reliability of parental patterns were investigated and confirmed. Findings: In this template, a matrix was drawn and then classification was carried out in two levels; level one containing the main attachment components, and level two containing 71 codes based on level one. Thus, the parenting model was considered with six main components of behavioral, affective, cognitive, psychic, kinesthetic-tactile, and physical security. Conclusion: The proposed parenting model, which includes behavioral, emotional, cognitive, psychological, kinetic-tactile, and physical safety components, can be used along with other treatments available for children with mood disorders.