A retired clinical child psychologist, Dr. Beth Grosshans taught child development at Princeton Center for Teacher Education. Based in New Jersey, Beth Grosshans, Ph.D., has written a book on the parent/child relationship.
Also known as nighttime incontinence or nocturnal enuresis, bed-wetting refers to involuntary urination during sleep in a person that has reached the age where this is expected to have stopped (age 7). Some parents prevent this by helping their children set an alarm for toilet use at night, and most children get fully adapted to this training by age 5. If bed-wetting persists for a long time, it can result in emotional problems such as low self-esteem, and behavioral disorders. Aside from addressing the emotional and behavioral problems associated with bed-wetting, psychological management has been hypothesized to be helpful stop bed-wetting. In the past years, several studies were done to compare the efficacy of motivational therapy in treating enuresis.
In 1991, a randomized controlled trial was done on two groups to evaluate the effect of motivational therapy in managing bed-wetting. One category had a 3-step management program (which involved child encouragement, bladder retention training, and behavioral training), and the other group received the 3-step program plus motivational therapy where each child discussed problems with a psychiatrist. At the end of the study, 84.4 percent of the motivational therapy group, and 66.7 percent of the 3-step program group achieved 14 consecutive dry nights.
