The Effectiveness of Storytelling on Reducing the Aggression and Loneliness of Afghan Refugee Children

Aggression and loneliness are important factors for future risk such as delinquency, anxiety and depression in children and, based on research, children in child labor have high levels of aggression and loneliness. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling on decreasing the aggression and loneliness of Afghan refugee children. The present study is a quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test with control group. The statistical population of the study was all children aged 12-8 years old was male and female students of Imam Ali (AS) Pakdasht in 2016 and the thirty children selected by purposeful sampling were chosen. The children were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 12 sessions of one hour storytelling for one and a half months. The measuring instruments were Children's Inventory of Anger (ChIA, 2000) and Loneliness Questionnaire (1985). Covariance analysis was used to analyze the data. Results‎: The results showed that there was no significant difference in the aggression of Afghan refugee children before and after the test (p>0/01), but there was a significant difference in the loneliness of these children in the pre-test and post-test (P<0/01). Conclusions‎: Storytelling has been effective in reducing the loneliness of the child labor of Afghan refugee girls and boys, so we can use stories to improve the loneliness of these children in health centers and clinics