The Effect of Play Therapy on Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Boys Aged 5 to 10 Years Old

Abstract

This study has been conducted with the aim of examining the effect of play therapy on symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in boys aged 5 to 10 years old in Tehran in 2014. The present study is quasi-experimental with the pretest-posttest control group design and random assignment of participants. From among the boys’ elementary schools and preschools located in districts 6 and 7 of Tehran, 30 persons were selected as the final participants through structured clinical interview based on the criteria indicated in DSM-IV-TR, and were selectively divided into two control and experimental groups. The participants in experimental group were provided with 12 sessions of play therapy. In order to collect the data in pretest and posttest, the Persian standardized version of oppositional defiant disorder rating scale (ODDRS) of Hommersen et al. (2006) which has a desirable validity and reliability was used. The data obtained from pretest and posttest in two groups was analyzed with the help of analysis of covariance. The analysis results indicated that there is a significant difference (F=20.74 and p<0.001) between experimental group and control group in posttest in symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. In addition, the measure of effect size indicated that 84% of the difference between two groups in related to experimental intervention. According to the data obtained, it can be said that play therapy is effective in reducing symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder in boys aged 5 to 10 years old.