Comparison of the Effectiveness of Psychological Education Based on Olson Model and McMaster Model on Family Cohesion of Schizophrenic Patients in Bushehr, Iran

Family cohesion affects the health, mental and physical well-being, academic achievement, and emotional health of the family through the disturbing family environment and creating feelings of depression, aggressive behaviors, and delinquency, and disrupting family members' self-concept. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of psychological education based on Olson's model and McMaster's model on family cohesion of schizophrenic patients in Bushehr, Iran. Method: This study was conducted based on a semi-experimental pretest-posttest design and follow-up. The statistical population consisted of 425 patients in all families of schizophrenic patients who underwent treatment in the medical centers in Bushehr (both governmental and non-governmental) in 2019. The eligible samples (n=45) were selected by convenience sampling method from the parents of schizophrenic patients and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The required data were collected using a questionnaire, namely the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (Olson, 1999) and analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) using multivariate analysis of covariance and post-test. Results: The results showed that psychological training based on the Olson and McMaster models effectively improved the family cohesion of schizophrenic patients (P<0.001); however, the McMaster model was more effective than the Olson model (P<0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings, the provision of psychological services was necessary to promote and cohere the families of schizophrenic patients; Therefore, the Olson and McMaster models can be used to promote and cohere the families of schizophrenic patients and provide the ground for their psychological care.