Comparison of the Effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analysis and Play Therapy on Behavioral Problems of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background and purpose:

Applied behavior analysis and game therapy can be effective methods for solving autistic children's behavioral problems. Meanwhile, comparing the effectiveness of behavioral behavioral analysis and therapeutic play is a topic that has been neglected. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis and play therapy on behavioral problems of children with autism spectrum disorder.

The present research method is semi-experimental and its design is pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all boys with autism who referred to daily centers under the supervision of the state welfare organization of Guilan province in the age range of 6-11 years. The sample size was 30 participants who were randomly assigned to three groups of applied behavioral analysis, game therapy, and control (n=10). The behavioral problems inventory was used to collect data. Finally, data were analyzed using covariance statistical method.

The results of this study indicate that the mean of behavioral problems indices in experimental groups (Applied behavior analysis and play therapy) was significantly reduced compared to the control group (p <0.01). Moreover, there was no significant difference in comparison between two therapeutic methods (p <0.05(.

According to the findings, both applied behavior analysis method and play therapy method have been effective in reducing behavioral problems in these children. In this regard, the results of this study indicate that there is no distinct difference in the rate of impact of applied behavior analysis and play therapy on behavioral problems of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, Applied behavior analysis, Play therapy, Behavioral problems