EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVE- BEHAVIORAL PLAY THERAPY ON BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS OF DISOBEDIENT STUDENTS

The present research was conducted to study the effect of cognitive- behavioral play therapy on Behavioral Problems of disobedient students. This research was experimental, and a pre-test, post-test, follow-up with control group design were applied. By using multistage sampling, 30 third-grade students who met DSM-IV criteria for oppositional defiant disorder were selected and randomly divided into control and experimental groups. SNAP- IV Rating Scale (Teacher Form) was used to measure of behavior problems of children's and was completed by their teachers. Then, the experimental group received play therapy for 10 one-hour sessions. For statistical data analysis, covariance analysis is used. Results indicated that there is a meaningful difference between the rate of behavioral problems of students in both control and experimental group in post-test and follow up stage (p≤0/001). Results of this research shows that cognitive- behavioral play therapy have an effect on reducing symptoms of behavioral problems in disobedient students and can be used as an effective intervention to eliminate or decrease these problems.