The effectiveness of parent-child play therapy on aggression, anxiety and social fear in children with oppositional defiant disorder

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of parent-child play therapy on aggression, anxiety and social fear of children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The design of the experimental study was pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the study included all the female students with ODD who were studying in Tabriz elementary schools in the academic year of 2009-2010. All the students studying in the schools were selected in a two-stage randomized cluster sampling and the scale of ODD grading was applied by the teachers of these schools on all the students. After scoring the questionnaires and screening, 40 students were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of 20 students. Shahim Aggression Questionnaire, Anxiety Questionnaire (Spence et al.), and Social Fear ‎Questionnaire (Masia et al.)‎were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed by covariance statistical analysis. The results of the study showed that parent-child play therapy has an effect on students’ aggression, anxiety and social fear and reduces their aggression, anxiety and social fear. Therefore, paying attention to parent-child play therapy plays an important role in improving children’s psychological problems.