The Effectiveness of Group Play Therapy on Social Problems, Aggression, and Delinquent of Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder in Isfahan 6-12

Objective: One of the biggest problems that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are dealing with is emotional-behavioral control problems that make social communication at home and school difficult Some of these problems include social problems, aggression, and law-breaking . Nowadays, the use of play therapy for children with  ADHD is prevalent. Play therapy is an active approach that allows the child to express their emotions using play. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of group play therapy on emotional behavioral problems in children with ADHD 6-12 years. Material & Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design with a control group. From the statistical population of children aged 6-12 years with ADHD, 28 children referred to occupational therapy clinic were selected in an accessible and purposeful manner. Inclusion criteria for children included: having a diagnosis of ADHD, completion of written parental consent, age between 6 and 12 years, higher score of child behavioral  check list than cut-off point (60), lack of psychotic symptoms The child (CSI-4 test) had no previous record of similar studies. The children were randomly assigned into two intervention or control groups and randomly assigned to 14 groups in each group.  The intervention group participated in 2 sessions of individual occupational therapy per week  and 12 sessions of 45-60 minutes (2 sessions per week) of group therapy, but the control group participated in only two individual occupational therapy sessions per week. Subjects in both groups were assessed for emotional behavior problems before and after group play therapy using the Child Behavior Checklist. In order to comply with the ethics of parents of children who are harmless to participate in research and at no additional cost to them, the confidentiality and non-disclosure of information about the subjects and to allow the subjects to participate freely and not to continue cooperating with The researcher was assured. The data obtained from pre-test and post-test positions were analyzed using covariance analysis in SPSS 21 software. Results: Covariance analysis was used to test the effectiveness of group play therapy on emotional behavioral problems in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. At first, the default of data was evaluated using Shapiro Wilk test. Based on the results of Shapirovilk test, condition of data distribution was established. The results of covariance analysis showed that group play therapy had a significant effect on emotional behavioral problems in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Considering that the scores of subjects in social variables, aggression and law breaking in the intervention group were lower than the control group, it can be deduced that group play therapy on social problems, aggression and law breaking in children with ADHD. Hyperactivity affects. (Pvalue˂0.05)   Conclusion: The present study concludes that group play therapy can be identified as an activity that can help control emotional behavioral problems in children with ADHD. It can also help reduce anxiety, loneliness and depression in children. Reduce child aggression problems. Increase adoption of the law in the child. Reduce attention and thinking problems in children. Minimize the child's social problems.