The Effectiveness of Play Therapy on Anxiety and Aggression in Bereaved Preschool Children (Parental Death or Separation)

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of play therapy in reducing anxiety and aggression among bereaved preschool children experiencing parental death or separation. This research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest control group. The statistical population consisted of bereaved preschool children referred to psychology clinics in Tehran in 2024. A total of 30 children were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Data were collected using the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale and the Shaheem Children’s Aggression Questionnaire. The experimental group received a structured play therapy intervention over six weeks, with two 60-minute sessions per week, while the control group received no intervention. Analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in anxiety scores after controlling for pretest effects (p<0.01), with play therapy explaining 79% of the variance in anxiety. In addition, a significant group difference was observed for aggression (p<0.001), and the intervention accounted for 81% of the variance in aggression levels. The findings indicate that play therapy is a highly effective intervention for reducing anxiety and aggression in bereaved preschool children and can be recommended as a specialized therapeutic approach in clinical and educational settings.