The effectiveness of psychodrama techniques in improving the moral development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

It is believed that the moral development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is defective. These children are deficient in moral judgment, making it difficult for them to interact with others.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of psychodrama techniques in improving the moral development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The research method is a quasi-experimental study. The statistical population of this study consist of all children aged 7 to12 years with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder who have been referred to Shiraz medical clinics in 2019 for treatment. Thirty children from the aforementioned population whose ADHD diagnosis were confirmed by a psychiatrist were selected as subjects and were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Then the subjects were asked to complete the Sinha & Verma’s moral judgment test and their scores were considered as pre-test scores. Then the experimental group received an intervention of "psychodrama techniques" for 1.5 hours per week for a duration of 8 weeks; while the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end of the intervention, both groups were asked to complete a post-test and were followed up 2 months after the intervention. The data are analyzed using one-way analysis of covariance in SPSS-22 software.

The findings demonstrate that psychodrama techniques were effective on improving the moral development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (P<0.005).

According to the findings, psychodrama techniques can be used as an effective intervention to improve the moral development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.