Effect of Narrative Therapy on Anxiety Levels of Second-Grade Elementary Students

This study aimed to investigate the effect of narrative therapy onthe anxiety levels of second-grade elementary students.

This semi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The target population of this study was the second-grade elementary female students at Shohadaye Taxirani School located in district 14 in Tehran, Iran, in the academic year 2019.  Based on census sampling, 30 students were selected among those who obtained the highest scores in the Spence anxiety test. Subsequently, they were assigned randomly into the experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The experimental group received 10 sessions of cognitive-behavioral narrative therapy for 45 min. On the other hand, the control group received routine practices. At the end of narrative therapy, both groups were evaluated using the scales mentioned. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) through descriptive statistics and analysis of multivariate covariance.

According to the result, the experimental group obtained a significant decrease in the total score of anxiety and its subscales after intervention, compared to the control group (P<0.05).   

Since the findings of this study are in line with those of other studies, it can be concluded that narrative therapy has positive effects on reducing anxiety levels in children.