The Effectiveness of Child-Parent Relationship based Play Therapy on the Symptoms of Depression and Self-Esteem in Children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of child-parent relationship based play therapy on the symptoms of depression and self-esteem in children.This research is a quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test with a control group. Sampling was done randomly and 30 children with depressive disorder symptoms were selected. The child-parent relationship based play therapy sessions were held for parents in the experimental group, 10 sessions, two sessions per week, and each session lasted for ninety minutes. The data were analyzed by co-variance (ANCOVA) and the difference between the means (independent t) significance of differences between the experimental and control groups. Findings obtained the present study show that the child-parent relationship based play therapy has an effect on children's depression and self-esteem (p<0.01).Therefore, it is essential for psychologists to apply child-parent relationships based play therapy to reduce the symptoms of depression and increase of self-esteem.

Keywords:

Child-Parent Relationships , Play Therapy , Depressive Disorder , Self-Esteem.