The effectiveness of play therapy on reduction of the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of play therapy on reduction of the symptoms of attention defect hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children of Ahvaz, Iran. To this end, 20 children with ADHA were selected using the available sampling method using the quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest and were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups were evaluated using the Conners’ scale as the pretest and posttest and the treatment group received play therapy for eight sessions. For data analysis, factorial ANCOVA was used. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test in the two groups. Follow-up study also showed the lasting effect of the independent variable.