BACKGROUND: Given the impact of familial relationships and interactions on children with behavioral problems, as well as the mother’s crucial role in moderating these relationships, it is essential to focus on mother–child interactions in relation to the emergence and severity of behavioral symptoms in children. The PRECEDE model addresses behavioral change by enhancing awareness and attitudes, along with identifying reinforcing and enabling factors for a given variable, and its effectiveness has been established. This research aims to design and evaluate an educational intervention based on the PRECEDE model to improve mother–child interactions among mothers of children aged 11–14 with behavioral problems. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This research was quasi-experimental in nature, with an experimental and one control group. The population consisted of children aged 11–14 with internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in Isfahan, Iran in 2022. The sample included 30 children from this population, randomly selected, with 15 assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group. The research instruments included a researcher-made questionnaire of PRECEDE-PROCEED and Piantia’s Parent–Child Interaction Scale, completed by participants during both the pre-test and post-test phases. The data obtained from these questionnaires were analyzed employing the Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, and paired samples t-test at a significance level of 0.05. RESULT: The Chi-square test indicated no significant differences between the experimental and control groups concerning demographic variables (education (P = 0.88), occupation (P = 0.43), as well as the gender of children (P = 0.71)). The independent samples t-test also revealed no significant differences in the age of mothers (P = 0.37) and their children (P = 0.76) of the two groups. Results from the independent samples t-test at the pre-intervention stage showed no significant differences in the scores of the PRECEDE ((for awareness, P = 0.82), (for attitude, P = 0.14), (for reinforcing factors, P = 0.21), (for enabling factors, P = 0.34)) or the mother–child interaction ((for conflict, P = 0.40), (for closeness, P = 0.61), (for dependence, P = 0.52)) in the experimental and control groups. In contrast, results from this test for post-intervention data indicated significant differences between the experimental and control groups regarding the scores of subscales of PRECEDE ((for awareness, P = 0.00), (for attitude, P = 0.00), (for reinforcing factors, P = 0.00), (for enabling factors, P = 0.00)), as well as the sub-scales and total score of mother–child interaction. ((for conflict, P = 0.01), (for closeness, P = 0.00), (for dependence, P = 0.01), (for total score, P = 0.00)). CONCLUSION: The results indicated the operational validity of the mother–child interaction educational intervention based on the PRECEDE model, as well as its positive impact on the components of the model and mother–child interaction. © 2026 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.
