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salajgheh M, molaie H. The effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on overt anxiety and behavioral problems in maladjusted children. Research in psychological health 2025; 19 (4)
URL: http://rph.khu.ac.ir/article-1-4615-en.html

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy on overt anxiety and behavioral problems in maladjusted children. The research method was a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all second-year male and female students of primary school in District 2 of Kerman in the second semester of the 1403-1404 academic year, totaling 8,500 people. Among them, 36 maladjusted children were selected through purposive sampling (based on the parent form of the Dekhanchi Children's Adaptation Questionnaire, 1377) and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (18 people in each group). Reynolds and Richmond's Children's Overt Anxiety Questionnaire (1978) and Quay and Patterson's Behavioral Problems Questionnaire (1987) were used to collect data. Child-centered play therapy intervention based on the Exline approach (1969) was implemented in 10 60-minute group sessions for the experimental group; while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed that child-centered play therapy significantly reduced overt anxiety and behavioral problems in children in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.05). Overall, the findings support the efficacy of child-centered play therapy as an appropriate psychological intervention for improving anxiety symptoms and behavioral problems in maladjusted children.