The Effectiveness of Pretend Plays on the Self-Efficacy and Creativity of Parentless Children and Children with Neglectful Parenting

Introduction: Self-efficacy and creativity are two important factors in childhood; some activity as play can probably enhance them. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of pretend plays on the self-efficacy and creativity of parentless children and children with neglectful parenting in Karaj. Methods: The research method was semi-experimental. The research community consisted of all children seven to twelve years old under the supervision of the welfare organization in Karag city. The children were parentless or suffered from lack of parental care living in two different orphanages called Nasle Mehre Yekta and Daste Mehrabane Madar. Considering the scores they received in a pretest and the criteria of inclusion and exclusion, thirty children were selected and assigned to two groups of fifteen by purposive sampling method. The research tools in this study were the SEQ-C measures childrenchr('39')s self-efficacy of Muris(2001) and the Torrance tests of creative thinking(1984) figural form A. The experimental group received eight sessions of group pretended play therapy. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance by SPSS20.  Results: Findings showed a significant difference in post-test mean scores of creativity and self-efficacy and their subscales in the experiment group in comparison to the control group. (P<0/05) Conclusions: The results suggest that pretend play therapy could increase self-efficacy and creativity in parentless children and children with neglectful parenting. Therefore, it could be a good way to improve the mental health of these children.