Effect of short‐ and long‐term play therapy services on teacher–child relationship stress

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of both short-and long term ChildCentered Play Therapy on teacher-student relationship stress. Teachers identified 58 students exhibiting emotional and behavioral difficulties who were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. Students in the short-term intensive play therapy group participated in 16 sessions of play therapy over 8 weeks, and students in the long-term play therapy group participated in 16 sessions over 16 weeks. Results indicated that both intervention groups demonstrated significant improvement in teacher-student relationship stress from pre-to posttest. Post hoc analyses indicated that the short-term intensive intervention demonstrated statistical significance and larger effect sizes in overall total stress, teacher characteristics, and student characteristics. C 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Changes in teacher stress through participation in pre‐referral intervention teams

“…It follows that if a student's challenges can be reduced, through appropriate interventions, dyadic teacher stress would also decrease. Although research has found that certain teacher-focused coping interventions (Barbaresi & Olson, 1998) and student-focused play therapy interventions (Ray, Henson, Schottelkorb, Brown, & Muro, 2008) correlate with decreases in dyadic teacher stress, no known studies have examined whether dyadic stress reduction is related to student progress through team-based interventions.…”

Enhancing Social Competence and the Child–Teacher Relationship using a Child-Centred Play Training Model in Hong Kong Preschools

“…Students in the short-term intensive play therapy group participated in 16 sessions of play therapy over 8 weeks, and students in the long-term play therapy group participated in 16 sessions over 16 weeks. Results indicated that both intervention groups demonstrated significant improvement in teacher-student relationship stress from pre-to post-test (Ray et al 2008).…”

Play Therapy Research: Issues for 21st Century Progress

“…Another recent treatment study, conducted by some of the same authors and using almost identical study design as Bratton et al (2013), provided evidence for Adlerian play therapy as another level 2 treatment for disruptive behavior (Meany-Walen, Bratton, & Kottman, 2014). While the remainder of play therapy interventions published since the year 2000 remain at level 4, there has been a growing number of 21st-century experimental and quasi-experimental research studies indicating positive treatment effects for several presenting problems, including internalizing problems (Packman & Bratton, 2003), ADHD (Ray, Schottelkorb, & Tsai, 2007), trauma (Schottelkorb, Doumas, & Garcia, 2012;Tyndall-Lind, Landreth, & Giordano, 2001;Shen, 2002), academic problems (Blanco & Ray, 2011), delayed language skills (Danger & Landreth, 2005), teacher-child relationship problems (Ray, 2007;Ray, Henson, Schottelkorb, Brown, & Muro, 2008), and adaptation to medical problems (Bloch & Toker, 2008;Jones & Landreth, 2002;Li & Lopez, 2007;Tsai et al, 2013). The empirical evidence for medical play therapy is particularly notable for its methodological strengths and promising results.…”

“…This review of 21st century peer-reviewed and published nonfilial play therapy studies identified 18 experimental studies (Blanco & Ray, 2011;Bratton et al, 2013;Carpentier, Silovsky, & Chaffin, 2006;Danger & Landreth, 2005;Fall et al, 2002;Garza & Bratton, 2005;Jones & Landreth, 2002;Li et al, 2008;Meany-Walen et al, 2014;Packman & Bratton, 2003;Paone, Packman, Maddux, & Rothman, 2008;Ray, 2007;Ray et al, 2007Ray et al, , 2008Schottelkorb et al, 2012;Shen, 2002;Tsai et al, 2013;Wang Flahive, & Ray, 2007). While randomization is often difficult when designing an intervention-based research design, play therapy researchers have clearly responded to the need for RCTs.…”

“…Similar to Bratton et al (2013) and Meany-Whalen et al (2014), some studies clearly identified and described the treatment protocol (Blanco & Ray, 2011;Garza & Bratton, 2005;Li et al, 2008;Ray, et al, 2007Ray, et al, , 2008Ray, et al, , 2009Tsai et al, 2013). Specification of treatment components and assurance of treatment fidelity included important elements, such as structured trainings for therapists, frequent supervision, videotaped sessions, and checklists to ensure treatment fidelity.…”