Determining the Effectiveness of Child-centered Play Therapy on Impulsive Behaviors and Self-efficacy of Third-Grade Female Students

The early years of life are important for the multi-dimensional transformation of children and the foundation shaping of life. There are many tactics to reduce impulsive behaviors and increase self-efficacy in students. Child-centered play therapy is one of the most effective approaches in this context. The present study aims to determine the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on impulsive behaviors and self-efficacy of third-grade female students.

 A quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test and post-test with the control group, was used in this applied research. The statistical population of the study included all 9-years-old female students of Ramsar elementary schools in the academic year of 2017-2018. 24 persons were selected by convenience sampling method from two schools in Ramsar city, according to conditions of the study; then, they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (12 persons in each group). The groups completed Wheeler & Ladd Children Self-Efficacy Scale (1982) and Hirschfield Impulsivity Scale (1965)in pre-test and post-test stages. During8 sessions of 45minutes, child-centered play therapy was performed for the experimental group individually, while the control group did not receive any intervention. MANCOVA was used to analyze the data.

 The results of MANCOVA showed that child-centered play therapy increased self-efficacy in subscales with conflict, without conflict, and total scale (F=165.60,p=0.001,Eta=0.865). Furthermore, the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on reducing impulsive behaviors was confirmed (F=1380.15, p=0.001,Eta=0.891).

 Based on the results, child-centered play therapy as an effective treatment to decrease impulsive behaviors and increase self-efficacy in third-grade female students is recommended.