Comparison of effectiveness two group programs FRIENDS for life and Coping Cat on fear among boys’ children

Fear is very common in childhood. Many Children experience the fear, but it is the unresolved fear of childhood that can lead to serious psychological problems in adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare two group programs FRIENDS for life (FLL) and Coping Cat (CC) on fear among boys’ children.

This quasi-experimental study was performed using pre-post-tests with two experimental and control groups. The statistical population of the current study included primary schoolchildren in District 5 of Tehran in 2019. Totally, forty-five 8-year-old students were selected from 5 schools by cluster random sampling and were randomly assigned into 3 groups (two experimental groups and one control group). The two experimental groups participated in the therapy sessions of FFL and CC programs on a weekly basis and one-hour sessions. The Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R, 2002) was used to collect research data.

The results showed that both FFL and CC programs were effective on children's fear  (F =18.66; P=0.001). However, this effect was not found in the control group. Moreover, by examining the pairwise comparison between the effectiveness of the FFL and CC programs, it was observed that the FFL was more effective than CC for the Fear of school children (P=0.001).

two therapeutic interventions programs including FFL and CC have been effective in reducing children's fear. Hence, the application of these two interventions in schools helps phobia in children to gain a deeper understanding of their various emotions and feelings and reduce their fear.