[Home ] [Archive]   [ فارسی ]  
:: Main :: About :: Current Issue :: Archive :: Search :: Submit :: Contact ::
Main Menu
Home::
Journal Information::
About the Journal
International Editorial Board
Editorial Board of Iranian University
Aims & Scopes
Indexing & Abstracting
Open Access Policy
Financial Policies
CrossMark Policy
Journal News
Articles archive::
All Issues
Current Issue
For Authors::
Instructions for Authors
Submission Form
Principles of Publishing Ethics
Ethical Code: Psychologic Study
Ethical Code: Medical Research
Ethical Consideration
Peer Review Policy
Declaration Form
Article Processing Charges
For Reviewers::
Policies of Peer Review
Registration::
Registration Form
Contact us::
Contact Information
Contact us
Site Facilities::
Site map
Search contents
Top 10 contents
Inform to friends
::
Search in website

Advanced Search
..
Receive site information
Enter your Email in the following box to receive the site news and information.
..
Open Access
..
Registered in
..
Indexing and Abstracting
..
:: Volume 6, Issue 2 (Vol6 No2 Summer 2019 - 2019) ::
J Child Ment Health 2019, 6(2): 40-52 Back to browse issues page
The Effect of Group Play Therapy on Aggressive Behaviors and Social Skills in Preschool Children
Tahereh Ebrahimi1 , Adeleh Aslipoor * 2, Mahnaz Khosrojavid3
1- Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
2- Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
Abstract:   (8761 Views)
Background and Purpose: Aggressive behavior is the most frequent behavioral problem in the preschool children. Numerous factors play a role in this context, including the lack of social skills. In this regard, play is considered as one of the most efficient methods in reducing children's externalizing behavior problems and improving their communicative and social skills. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of group play therapy on the aggressive behaviors and social skills of preschool children.     
Method: This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study sample consisted of 24 preschool children with aggressive behaviors in Lahijan city over the academic year 2015-2016. They were selected by cluster sampling and then assigned randomly to either the experimental or control group. Preschool Aggression Scale (Vahedi et al., 2008) and Matson Evaluation of Social Skills (1983) were used for data collection. The experimental group received eight 45-minute sessions of play therapy (twice a week). One week after the end of the sessions, posttest was administrated to both groups. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. 
Results: Findings showed that group play therapy was significantly effective in reducing aggression and its components like invasive-verbal aggression, invasive-physical aggression, relational aggression and impulsive aggression and in improving the appropriate social skills and self-confidence (P=0.000). It also reduced significantly the inappropriate audacity, impulsiveness, jealousy and isolation (P=0.000).
Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that play therapy gives this opportunity to the children to show their inner feelings caused by stress, frustration, fear, and confusion and to learn how to control or stop aggression. Since group play therapy can help the preschool children to learn skills like compliance with social rules, interact and collaborate with others, and management of negative emotions in interpersonal relationships; hence, using this method to prepare them for entering the broader social world seems necessary.
Keywords: Play therapy, aggressive behaviors, social skills, preschool children
Full-Text [PDF 778 kb]   (3113 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2018/01/10 | Accepted: 2018/06/12 | Published: 2019/07/31
References
1. Malek M, Hasanzadeh R, Tirgari A. Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group play therapy on reducing behavioral problems in children with reading disorder. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2013; 2(4): 140-153. [Persian]. [Link]
2. Safary S, Faramarzi S, Abedi A. Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy on behavioral symptoms of disobedient students. The Journal of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. 2014; 25(3): 258-267. [Persian]. [Link]
3. Rumney HL, McMahon K. Do social skills interventions positively influence mood in children and young people with autism? Ment Health Prev. 2017; 5: 12-20. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.mhp.2016.12.001]
4. Kim H, Carlson AG, Curby TW, Winsler A. Relations among motor, social, and cognitive skills in pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities. Res Dev Disabil. 2016; 53-54: 43-60. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.016]
5. Simonsen B, Myers D, Everett S, Sugai G, Spencer R, LaBrick, C. Explicitly teaching social skills school wide: using a matrix to guide instruction. Interv Sch Clin. 2012; 47(5): 259-266. [Link] [DOI:10.1177/1053451211430121]
6. Turner NE, Macdonald J, Somerset M. Life skills, mathematical reasoning and critical thinking: a curriculum for the prevention of problem gambling. J Gambl Stud. 2008; 24(3): 367-380. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10899-007-9085-1]
7. Movallali G, Jalil-Abkenar SS, A'shouri M. The efficacy of group play therapy on the social skills of pre-school hearing-impaired children. Archives of Rehabilitation. 2015; 16(1): 76-85. [Persian]. [Link]
8. Zinat Motlagh F, Ahmadi-Jouibari T, Jalilian F, Mirzaei Alavijeh M, Aghaei A, Karimzadeh Shirazi KK. The prevalence and factors associated with aggression among adolescences of Yasuj, Iran. Health System Research. 2013; 9(3): 312-319. [Persian]. [Link]
9. Dirks MA, Treat TA, Weersing VR. The latent structure of youth responses to peer provocation. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2011; 33(1): 58-68. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10862-010-9206-5]
10. Momeni K, Kahrizi S. The effectiveness of sand play therapy on the reduction of the aggression in preschool children. Developmental Psychology (Journal of Iranian Psychologists). 2014; 11(42): 147-157. [Persian]. [Link]
11. Benjamin AJ. Aggression. In: Friedman HS, editor. Encyclopedia of mental health (Second Edition). Oxford: Academic Press; 2016, 33-39. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-397045-9.00198-1]
12. Mandelin KA. Social emotional competence and curriculums in early childhood [Thesis of MS
13. School Psychology]. University of Wisconsin-Stout; 2013, pp 22-27. [Link]
14. Morshed N, Davoodi I, Babamiri M. Effectiveness of group play therapy on symptoms of oppositional defiant among children. Journal of Education and Community Health. 2015; 2(3): 12-18. [Persian]. [Link] [DOI:10.20286/jech-02032]
15. Tsai M-H. Research in play therapy: A 10-year review in Taiwan. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2013; 35(1): 25-32. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.10.016]
16. Landreth GL, Ray DC, Bratton SC. Play therapy in elementary schools. Psychol Sch. 2009; 46(3): 281-289. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/pits.20374]
17. Rye N. Play therapy as a mental health intervention for children and adolescents. J Fam Health Care. 2008; 18(1): 17-19. [Link]
18. Tomaj OK, Estebsari F, Taghavi T, Nejad LB, Dastoorpoor M, Ghasemi A. The effects of group play therapy on self-concept among 7 to 11 year-old children suffering from thalassemia major. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2016; 18(4): e35412. [Link] [DOI:10.5812/ircmj.35412]
19. Shoaakazemi M, Momeni Javid M, Ebrahimi Tazekand F, Shamloo Rad Z, Gholami N. The effect of group play therapy on reduction of separation anxiety disorder in primitive school children. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2012; 69: 95-103. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.387]
20. Aljadeff-Abergel E, Ayvazo S, Eldar E. Social skills training in natural play settings: educating through the physical theory to practice. Interv Sch Clin. 2012; 48(2): 76-86. [Link] [DOI:10.1177/1053451212449737]
21. Baggerly J, Parker M. Child-centered group play therapy with African American boys of the elementary school level. J Couns Dev. 2005; 83(4): 387-396. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2005.tb00360.x]
22. Bratton SC, Ray D, Rhine T, Jones L. The efficacy of play therapy with children: a meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2005; 36(4): 376-390. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/0735-7028.36.4.376]
23. Vahedi S, Fathiazar S, Hosseini-Nasab SD, Moghaddam M. Validity and reliability of the aggression scale for preschoolers and assessment of aggression in preschool children in Uromia. Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health. 2008; 10(37): 15-24. [Persian]. [Link]
24. Matson JL, Rotatori AF, Helsel WJ. Development of a rating scale to measure social skills in children: the Matson evaluation of social skills with youngsters (MESSY). Behav Res Ther. 1983; 21(4): 335-340. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/0005-7967(83)90001-3]
25. Yousefi F, Khayer M. A study on the reliability and the validity of the Matson evaluation of social skills with youngstres (messy) and sex differences in social skills of high school students in Shiraz, Iran. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities of Shiraz University. 2002; 18(236): 159-170. [Persian]. [Link]
26. Geldard K, Geldard D. Counseling children (a practical introduction). Arjmandi Z. (Persian translator). Fourth edition. Tehran, Andisheavar; 2015, pp: 137-252. [Persian]
Send email to the article author

Add your comments about this article
Your username or Email:

CAPTCHA

XML   Persian Abstract   Print

Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Ebrahimi T, Aslipoor A, Khosrojavid M. The Effect of Group Play Therapy on Aggressive Behaviors and Social Skills in Preschool Children. J Child Ment Health 2019; 6 (2) :40-52
URL: http://childmentalhealth.ir/article-1-390-en.html
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Volume 6, Issue 2 (Vol6 No2 Summer 2019 - 2019) Back to browse issues page
فصلنامه سلامت روان کودک Quarterly Journal of Child Mental Health
Persian site map - English site map - Created in 0.06 seconds with 43 queries by YEKTAWEB 4645