The efficacy of storytelling on school phobia and separation anxiety

Addressing the challenges within the educational system during the early years of schooling stands as a crucial focus for researchers. Despite the necessity of exploring school-related fears and their influencing factors, there remains a scarcity of research in this domain.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the efficacy of storytelling on school phobia and separation anxiety among students in the first- grade of elementary school in Shiraz.

The present research employed a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The study population consisted of all first-grade elementary students in Shiraz during the academic year 2022-2023. Thirty eligible students were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. After confirming the absence of significant differences between the control and experimental groups, a storytelling intervention program was implemented for the experimental group, utilizing a collection of books by Parirukh and Majid (2015) along with other educational materials. No intervention program was provided to the control group. The Anxiety-Related Disorders Questionnaire developed by Bimamar (1999) was used to measure two subscales: school phobia and separation anxiety, both administered before and after the intervention. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 25.

The results of the covariance analysis revealed a significant difference in the mean scores of school phobia and separation anxiety between the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments (p < 0.05) for the experimental group. Specifically, the scores in the experimental group decreased significantly at the post-test and follow-up stages. In contrast, there was no significant change observed in the scores of the control group across these assessments.

The findings of the present study demonstrate that storytelling is effective in reducing separation anxiety and fear of school among students. Avoiding school can lead to serious consequences, including harm and social deviance. Students who skip school may be more susceptible to delinquent behaviors and jeopardize their future careers. Storytelling emerges as an accessible and effective intervention to alleviate children's fears and anxieties related to school. Moreover, parents can be trained in storytelling techniques to motivate their children to attend school and engage positively in the educational environment.