Abstract
BACKGROUND: The function of having children is one of the important functions of the family. Women's attitude toward having children is negative and as a result, selective single-childhood has increased in Iran. Motivational interviewing and behavioral planning theory are among the methods of attitude change. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the impact and comparison of two training methods based on the theory of planned behavior and motivational interviewing on the intention to have children in married women with only one child. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study is a semiexperimental study that was conducted in 2022 on 105 people (35 people in the training group based on the theory of planned behavior, 35 people in the motivational interview group, and 35 people in the control group). Two groups received a training program in five sessions of 90 min. The questionnaire on the intention to have children was completed by the participants of all three groups at the beginning and end of the intervention. Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 24 and Mann-Whitney, Fisher's, and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the three studied groups before the intervention in any of the dimensions of the questionnaire to evaluate the intention to have children, but after the intervention, these changes were significant between the three groups (P < 0.001). The mean scores in the motivational interview group were higher than the theory of planned behavior group. Also, the results showed that the intragroup changes in the two groups of the theory of planned behavior and motivational interview before and after the intervention were significant (P < 0.001), but no significant changes were observed in the control group (P = 0.623). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the theory of planned behavior and motivational interviewing have a positive effect on the intention to have children, and the greatest effect is related to motivational interviewing. Therefore, it is suggested to carry out educational interventions based on these two methods, especially motivational interviews and providing the required information to married women with one child.