THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ATTACHMENT- BASED STORYTELLING ON REDUCING BEDTIME PROBLEMS AND ENHANCING CHILD-MOTHER RELATIONSHIP

this study investigated the effectiveness of attachment based storytelling on reducing children’s bedtime problems and enhancing child-mother relationship, and comparing this method with positive routines. The sample consisted of 30 children ages between four and six years who complained about bedtime problem from Shiraz nursing homes using convenience sampling. The participants were randomly assigned into attachment based storytelling, positive routines, and control groups. The experimental groups received the training sessions. At the end of training sessions post-test was conducted. The participants’ mothers completed the Child Sleep Habit Questionnaire (Owens, Spirito, & McGuinn, 2000) and the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Pinata,1992). The results of analysis of variance (repeated measures) indicated that while bedtime problems reduced in both the attachment based storytelling group and positive routines, it was in the attachment based storytelling group which the childmother relationship was enhanced significantly. The findings suggested that the clinical application of attachment based on storytelling not only reduced sleep problems but also improve mental and emotional health of the child and the family.