The Effectiveness of Game Therapy on Social Skills, Anxiety, and Aggression in Down syndrome Children

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic games on social skills, anxiety and aggression in children with Down syndrome. This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group. The statistical population of the study included all children with Down syndrome under the protection of Kermanshah Welfare Organization in 2018. A total of 30 children with Down syndrome were selected by random sampling in two equal groups of control and control (each group was 15). The experimental group participated in 8 sessions while the control group did not participate. To collect the research data from A: Social skills questionnaires (Matson, 1983), B: Children's Anxiety Questionnaire (Spence, 1999), and C: Aggression Questionnaire (Bass & Perry's aggression, 1992). The data were analyzed using covariance analysis and SPSS-21 software. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the social skills scores and each of the components includes proper social skills, inappropriate courage, impulsivity / rebellion, high self-confidence, and jealousy / 05/0> P). Also, there was a significant difference between the mean scores of aggression and anxiety in the two groups in the post-test (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that playing therapy with other behavioral therapies can be used to increase social skills and decrease the negative emotions of children with Down syndrome.