• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.135-148
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to develop cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) to improve the parenting efficacy of married immigrant women, and verify its effectiveness. In the CBT of this study, behavioral technique was added to cognitive reconstruction based on cultural context in order to improve parenting efficacy. The study selected 28 married immigrant women, and randomly divided them into a CBT group(10), a general treatment group(8) and a control group(10). The CBT and the general treatment programs consisted of 10 sessions, approximately 2 hours in duration. The results of the study were as follows. 1) The level of parenting efficacy was improved significantly in the CBT and the general treatment group. 2) The level of negative automatic thoughts and dysfunctional parenting thoughts was significantly decreased only in the CBT group. 3) In the CBT and the general treatment group, the level of parenting stress and acculturative stress was decreased while the level of psychological well-being improved. On the other hand, the level of parent-adolescent communication was improved significantly only in the CBT group. 4) In comparison with the general treatment group, the CBT group showed higher parenting efficacy and lower automatic thoughts and dysfunctional parenting thoughts. This study has significance in its attempt to develop a parent training program to improve the parenting efficacy of married immigrant women by integrating behavioral modification and communication skills training focused on cognitive reconstruction of parenting-related negative thoughts and beliefs in application of the CBT paradigm.