The Effectiveness of Child-Centered Play Therapy on Increasing Assertiveness and Social Skills of Preschool Children of a Divorced Family

The major aim of the current research was to assess the adequacy of Child-Centered play treatment (CCPT) on increasing assertiveness and social skills in preschool children of divorced families.

The research method used for the present study was a quasi-experimental strategy with a pre-test-post-test plan with test and control groups. The factual populace included all preschool children of a divorced family in Mahabad (A city in West Azerbaijan province, Iran) in the academic year 2022-2023. Twenty children were chosen by the Convenience Sampling method and were studied after they were arbitrarily designated to exploratory and control groups (10 subjects in each bunch). The experimental group underwent play therapy training for 10 sessions (1 hour each) for five weeks and the control group did not receive any training., The data were collected using a Gambrill-Richey Assertiveness Scale (1975) and a Social Skills Rating Scale (ROSS) (Truscott, 1989).

The results were analyzed utilizing multivariate examination of covariance (MANCOVA). By controlling the pre-test impacts, the comes about of examination of covariance showed that play treatment preparation was driven by a contrast between the exploratory bunch and the control gathering. That is, play treatment preparation has made strides in the confidence and social abilities of preschool children of a divorced family (P <0.05).

It can be inferred that child-centered play therapy can be an effective element in increasing assertiveness and social skills, therefore, requires special consideration from teachers and those involved in education.