Comparison of the effectiveness of story therapy and music therapy on the executive functions of aggressive elementary school female students

Today, childrenchr aggression is one of the most common and one of the important reasons for their referral to psychotherapists. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of story therapy and music therapy on the executive functions of aggressive female students.

In this quasi-experimental study, 45 aggressive students were randomly selected from among elementary school female students in Karaj in the academic year 1300-1499 and randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group. (15 n1 = n2 = n3 =). The research instruments included primary school children aggression questionnaires, Wisconsin test, continuous performance test and Stroop test. The experimental groups underwent story therapy in 11 sessions and music therapy in 8 sessions. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

There was a significant difference between the effectiveness of story therapy and music therapy on executive functions (p <0.001) of aggressive female students. The mean scores of executive functions in music therapy post-test were significantly higher than the mean scores of story therapy group and control group (p <0.001).

Story therapy and music therapy have an effective role in improving the executive functions of aggressive female students. Also, music therapy has a greater effect on increasing performance indicators (cognitive flexibility, sustained attention and inhibition) of aggressive female students than story therapy. Therefore, it is suggested that these treatments be performed by specialists in these fields to help aggressive students in educational and medical environments. The results of this research can have many educational implications.