Impact of Child-Centered Play therapy on Self-esteem and Aggression of School-going Children

Abstract

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) is a therapeutic approach utilized widely in the West as a tool to cater to an array of problems faced by children. In spite of its popularity in the West, there is still a remarkable amount of negligence towards CCPT in the East. Hence, the present study aims at changing that notion. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) on self-esteem and aggression of school-going children in Pakistan. It was hypothesized that (i) Child- Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) would have a significant impact on the self-esteem of school-going children, (ii) Children exposed to CCPT interventions would experience an increase in self-esteem as compared to those who were not exposed to CCPT interventions, (iii) Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) would have a significant impact on the levels of aggression of school-going children, and that (iv) Children exposed to CCPT interventions would experience a decrease in the levels of aggression as compared to those who were not exposed to CCPT interventions. The total sample of the present study consisted of 30 children, both males and females, from government school in the city of Karachi. The participants of the study were selected on the basis of purposive sampling. The age range of the participants ranged between 8 to 12 years. The participants were presented with self-report measures for the pre-and-post intervention periods, which were, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), and the Brief Aggression Questionnaire (Webster, et al., 2014). During the intervention period, the sample was divided into two equal groups of 15 each i.e. the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group was then subjected to receive 6 group sessions utilizing Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) interventions which were focused on increasing self-esteem and decreasing aggression; whereas, the control group received no treatment during this phase. The results obtained from both the groups were then quantitatively analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, Version 21). The hypotheses were confirmed significant at p<0.05. This indicates that Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) interventions do have an impact on self-esteem and aggression in school-going children in Pakistan. The study also presents pivotal implications in the utilization of CCPT interventions as well as limitations faced in the present research along with recommendations for future researches.