Comparison of the effectiveness of play therapy and story therapy on depression and anxiety separation in children with leukemia

Children with leukemia, in addition to physical problems, also suffer from mental problems, such as depression and separation anxiety; The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of play therapy and story therapy on depression and anxiety separation in children with leukemia.

The present study is a semi-experimental project with Pretest-Posttest-three-group follow-up. The statistical population of the present study included all children with leukemia who referred to the Mahak Center in 1398. In order to form three groups using purposeful sampling method, 45 children were first selected and 15 people were randomly assigned to the first experimental group, 15 to the second experimental group and 15 to the control group. Also, the follow-up phase was performed on all three groups three months after the test. The research data were analyzed using repeated measurement analysis of variance.

The results of data analysis showed that compared to the control group, both treatments had a significant effect on depression and separation anxiety in children with leukemia (p <0.05). Play therapy also had a greater effect on depression and separation anxiety (p <0.05) than on storytelling.

The effect of play therapy on depression and separation anxiety in children with leukemia was higher than story therapy, so it is recommended to use play therapy.