The Effectiveness of Narrative Therapy on Reducing Behavioral Problems and Improving Self-Perception in Students

Childhood Behavior problems can have long-term effects on the behavioral, physical, and cognitive functions of the children and lead to the experiences of failure and feelings of inadequacy during their school years. Continuation of this situation adversely affects the child's perception of himself as an active, alert, and willful person and exacerbates his problems. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of narrative therapy on reducing behavior problems and improving self-perception in students.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design. From the study population that including all fourth-grade male students in Shiraz city in the academic year 2019-2020, 30 were selected by convenience sampling and then randomly placed in the experimental and control groups (15 per group). The experimental group underwent twelve 60- min sessions of narrative therapy, while the control group received no treatment. Data were collected by Harter's Self-Perception Profile (1989) and the Behavior Problems Questionnaire of Shahim and Yousefi (1999). Data were analyzed by ANCOVA and MANCOVA in SPSS 23.

The results of data analysis showed that narrative therapy was effective on self-perception and increased this component in students (p<0.001). Also, narrative therapy was effective on behavior problems and its components (fear and attention deficit) and reduced these components in the students (p<0.01).

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that narrative therapy reduces fear and problems related to attention deficit in children and ultimately improves their relationship with others, resulting in a increases of their self-perception. Therefore, use of narrative therapy is suggested for decreasing the behavior problems and increasing the self-perception in students.