Effect of occupational therapy on self-determination skills of adolescents at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Self‐determination skills enable to support an individuals needs and make decisions to function independently. Improvement of self‐determination skills has had a positive result for adolescents at risk of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of occupational therapy interventions on the self‐determination skills of adolescent girls at risk of emotional‐behavioral disorders. Methods: In this single‐blind control trial study, 14‐16‐years‐old girl students (n=54) at risk of EBD were recruited by cluster sampling from secondary high schools of Tehran, Iran. Youth self‐report Questionnaire (YSR) was used to include adolescents at risk of EBD in the study and were randomized into the intervention (n=27) and control group (n=27) by block randomization. The Student Self‐Determination Scale (SDSS) and the Self‐determination Parent Perception Scale (SDPPS) were used to collect data. Students in the intervention group participated in 8 ‐ once a week‐ sessions of occupational therapy and the control group received no training. Data were analyzed by repeated‐measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA), Bonferroni test and SPSS 16.0 version. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The score of self‐determinations (SDSS) increased significantly in the intervention group after the intervention (p<0.001). Although the mean scores of self‐determination at follow‐up have increased in the intervention group compared to the post‐test. No significant differences were found (p>0.05); also, the score of parents perception of student self‐determination (SDPPS) increased but there were not significantly different (p=0.064). Conclusion: The findings indicated self‐determination skills could be taught to adolescents at risk of EBD in OT sessions. Since self‐determination has been identified as the necessary skills for adolescents at‐risk to transition into adulthood, occupational therapists have an important role in promoting self‐determination skills in adolescents at risk of EBD.