Effect of Guided Imagery on Children's Social Performance

Abstract

The study examined the effect of guided imagery on overt social behavior of children during free play. Forty withdrawn and rejected first-graders (6 to 8 years of age) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions. Four of them were guided imagery conditions: mastery plus peer acceptance, mastery with no social contingency, coping, and gradual rehearsal. A fifth control condition involved no intervention. It was predicted that the four imagery conditions would increase and maintain positive socialization, but the coping condition would be the most effective. Children under the coping condition, which involved guided imagery of failure to get peer acceptance, but progressively mastering the social interaction and finally being accepted by peers, consistently increased positive socialization behaviors from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up, as compared to gradual rehearsal and control. Both mastery conditions increased socialization at post-treatment, but reverted to baseline levels during follow-up.

MindRegulation: Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of a Relaxation and Guided Imagery Intervention on the psychophysiological well-being, socioemotional regulation, cognitive and academic development of children in school

“…However, a scienti c validation of these interventions for school-aged children is lacking [6,37], indicating a research path to develop that is quite relevant to child development. Nevertheless, a few empirical studies were found and are described below, providing insight into some of their potential effects on the socioemotional development of children [59].…”

Guided imagery.

“…This fact was especially astonishing to this author, as guided imagery has been used in psychotherapy for decades and has been shown to be a highly effective tool in managing stress, anxiety, eating disordered behaviors, sleep disturbance, and many more treatment issues that are commonly seen in child and adolescent clientele (Utay & Miller, 2006). Guided imagery has been shown to help with executive functioning such as planning and rehearsing goals, coping with negative or intrusive thoughts, increasing confidence, developing prosocial skills, increasing self-soothing, managing stress, overcoming fear, and gaining control over painful emotions (Arbuthnott et al, 2001;Enns, 2001;Hernández-Guzmán et al, 2002;Levy, 2011;Taylor de Faoite, 2014).…”

“…Other researchers found that when working to enhance social skills and performance, offering guided imagery techniques that allowed for the visualization of relationship building and enhancing was more powerful than using images of positive social skills. They found that this increased the child's ability for long-term positive success in making and keeping friends (Hernández-Guzmán et al, 2002). The application of attachment theory and guided imagery could be a significant area for future research in play therapy, as the understanding of the importance of creating relationships across cultures and populations grows, particularly in Western industrialized cultures, as children and families have become increasingly isolated and fragmented.…”

Systematic Review of Occupational Therapy and Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, and Intervention for Children and Youth

“…A Level II nonrandomized controlled trial (Powell, Gilchrist, & Stapley, 2008) provided limited evidence that a program of yoga, massage, and relaxation for children with behavioral difficulties resulted in improvements in self-confidence and increased communication. A Level I RCT (Hernandez-Guzman, Gonzalez, & Lopez, 2002) provided moderate evidence that a guided imagery program with withdrawn or rejected first graders in Mexico resulted in increased socialization when imagery was combined with rehearsal of coping strategies.…”