Effectiveness of Group Play Therapy in Reducing Generalized Anxiety in Female Elementary Students

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Group play therapy in reducing generalized anxiety in female elementary students of Ahvaz. It is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with the control group. First, area 2 was selected from among the four areas of education in Ahvaz through multi-stage cluster random sampling method. Next, 34 students aged 8-11 in the 2012-2013 school year who, according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, were diagnosed with anxiety disorder were randomly included in two 17-member experimental and control groups (in addition to the questionnaire, these students received a psychiatrist’s confirmation of their disorder). The experimental group underwent a group play therapy for ten 60-minute sessions and the control group received no intervention. At the beginning of the study and after the intervention of child symptom inventory 4 (CSI-4) in the anxiety subscale of group D ended, all subjects completed parents forms. Covariance analysis was used to analyze data. The results of covariance analysis showed that play therapy significantly decreases the symptoms of generalized anxiety in pre-test (P < 0.002) and follow-up (P < 0.004) phases. Therefore, play therapy could be used as an effective intervention method in reducing generalized anxiety.