The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Play Therapy on Emotional Awareness and Resilience in Elementary School Children
Keywords:
Cognitive-behavioral play therapy, emotional awareness, resilience.Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy (CBPT) on enhancing emotional awareness and resilience among elementary school girls.
Methods and Materials: The research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group. The statistical population included all first-grade female students in Rasht County during the 2024–2025 academic year. Based on purposive sampling, 30 students who scored one standard deviation below the mean in emotional awareness and resilience were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (15 each). The experimental group participated in ten 90-minute sessions of CBPT based on the Shahriar Doust (2015) model, while the control group received no intervention. Emotional awareness was measured using the Emotional Awareness Questionnaire (Rieffe et al., 2008), and resilience was assessed using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure–28 (Ungar & Liebenberg, 2009). Data were analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA and ANCOVA).
Findings: MANCOVA results showed a statistically significant combined effect of CBPT on emotional awareness and resilience (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.528, F(2,25) = 11.16, p < .001, η² = 0.472). Univariate ANCOVA revealed that CBPT significantly improved emotional awareness (F(1,26) = 16.27, p < .001) and resilience (F(1,26) = 9.84, p < .01) in the experimental group, with a stronger effect observed for emotional awareness.
Conclusion: The findings confirm the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy in significantly enhancing emotional awareness and resilience among young children. The integration of cognitive-behavioral techniques with developmentally appropriate play activities offers a promising therapeutic approach to improving psychological functioning in elementary-aged students.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ozra Sabounchi (Author); Morteza Tarkhan (Corresponding author); Elaheh Sadeghi (Author)
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