Impact of cognitive- behavioral play therapy with parents’ involvement in reducing children’s social phobia

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of this research was to explore the impact of cognitive-behavioral play therapy with parental involvement in reducing children’s social phobia.Method: Among elementary schools and kindergartens, 4 kindergartens and elementary schools were selected at convenience. Among these, 70 children completed Reiven Intelligence Quotient Test after acquiring parents’ consent. Then parents of children who gained IQ scores above average completed Spence Anxiety Scales (child and parent version). Finally, 30 children with social phobia were selected and assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was under cognitive behavioral play therapy for 8 sessions in 2 months. Their parents took 2 training sessions, too, whereas no intervention was taken in the control group. After the intervention, posttest was done and they were followed up after 1 month. Data were analyzed by covariance statistical method.Results: The results revealed play therapy reduced children’s social phobia.Conclusion: Given the significant difference between the case and control groups, play therapy can be used to reduce social phobia.