Effectiveness puppet play therapy on adaptive behavior and social skills in boy children with intellectual disability

Background: Intellectual disability influences social skills and adaptive behavior in children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of puppet play therapy on adaptive behavior and social skills in boy children with intellectual disability. Methods: This quasi-experimental study with pre/post-test design was conducted on 30 intellectual disability boy children (9-11 aged) selected through the criteria from Nor-Islam School of Varamin City in 2017. They were randomly divided into the control and intervention groups. The intervention group received puppet play therapy for eight treatment sessions. The research tools were Vineland Social Maturity Scales (VSMS) and Adaptive Behavior Index of Limbert (ABIC). Data were statistically analyzed using ANCOVA. Results: Findings indicated that the mean scores of six subscales of adaptive behavior including violent and disruptive behavior (P<0.001), antisocial behavior (p<0.001), rebellious behavior (p<0.01), untrustworthy behavior (p<0.001), stereotyped behavior (p<0.01), unacceptable of eccentric habit (p<0.01) and Vineland social maturity (p<0.05) after intervention, in research groups were significantly different. In addition, the results of ANCOVA showed that there was no significant difference between five subscales of adaptive behavior including withdrawal behavior (p<0.05), inappropriate social behavior (p<0.01), unacceptable vocal habits (p<0.05), hyperactive tendencies (p>0.05) and psychological disturbance (p<0.05). Conclusions: The findings indicated that play therapy brought the positive impact on social coping behaviors in children Intellectual disability. It is necessary that child counselors and psychologists to utilize the play therapy to decrease social skills deficits and promote social adjustment in children via intellectual disability at schools and rehabilitation centers