Therapeutic Play and Its Effect on Children's Psychosocial Well-Being

NCT ID: NCT06845111

Last Updated: 2025-11-21

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

53 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-05-01

Study Completion Date

2024-12-01

Brief Summary

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Play-Based Intervention Programme (TOTEM), which was developed to reduce the negative psychosocial effects of the earthquake in children aged 4-6 years, and its effect on children's psychosocial well-being.

Detailed Description

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Earthquakes are among the most impressive geological processes and are defined as an unpredictable natural disaster due to their destructive effects on people and structures. In Turkey, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake occurred on 6 February 2023 at 04.17 local time, centred in Kahramanmaraş, and another 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred about nine hours later. In addition, more than 1000 aftershocks were recorded in the region and these events further increased the scale of the disaster. Earthquakes have the potential to have profound and traumatic effects on people's psychological functioning. Children are particularly affected by these effects due to their vulnerability during natural disasters. Children who experience disasters may face various problems in physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development.

Therapeutic play intervention is based on the belief that play is a universal language that allows children to easily express their feelings and thoughts. This approach is an effective strategy that helps the child to explore their problems, seek solutions, express their feelings and emotional regulation. It also promotes cognitive development, reduces anxiety and stress, and increases confidence.

Providing appropriate support to children after a traumatic event such as an earthquake is critical for preventing future psychological problems. In this context, providing children with supportive approaches such as play therapy and conducting these methods by expert teams can contribute to children's well-being. Therapeutic games play an important role by providing a universal language for children to express their emotions and cope with stress.

Conditions

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Therapeutic Play Psychosocial Well-being Nursing Care

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
Single (third party blinding- Outcomes Assessor)

Study Groups

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Experimental: Group receiving Therapeutic Play

The Therapeutic Play-Based Intervention Programme (TOTEM) designed for the research was carried out with the children in the intervention group on the determined days and hours. The children were administered the post-test immediately after the end of the programme and then the retention test at the end of the first month.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Therapeutic play

Intervention Type OTHER

In this context, the pre-school teachers in the container area were contacted and the sessions were held every Wednesday-Thursday (8 sessions in total) for 5 weeks, taking into account their availability hours. Children were included in the programme in groups of 12. Before data collection, the necessary materials were provided and stored in an empty container. It was found appropriate to complete the trainings in kindergartens located in the container city (4). A total of 3 evaluations were carried out: a post-test immediately after the end of the programme and a retention test at the end of the first month.

Control Group

Control group (routine education programme): The children in the control group were administered a pre-test in the kindergartens they were currently attending (which were included in daily routine life, games, etc. by preschool teachers living in the city), a post-test after five weeks in parallel with the study group, and then a retention test at the end of the first month. Considering ethical principles, the TOTEM programme was also applied to the children in this group after the study was completed.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Therapeutic play

In this context, the pre-school teachers in the container area were contacted and the sessions were held every Wednesday-Thursday (8 sessions in total) for 5 weeks, taking into account their availability hours. Children were included in the programme in groups of 12. Before data collection, the necessary materials were provided and stored in an empty container. It was found appropriate to complete the trainings in kindergartens located in the container city (4). A total of 3 evaluations were carried out: a post-test immediately after the end of the programme and a retention test at the end of the first month.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Being between the ages of 4-6
* Having literate parents
* Having adequate Turkish receptive-expressive language skills
* Not having a previously diagnosed psychiatric problem declared by the parents
* Not having participated in a training programme on psychosocial well-being before
* Not attending any pre-school education institution at the time of the training
* Volunteering to participate in the study by themselves and their parents

Exclusion Criteria

* The participant wants to leave the study
* The participant has not participated in one or more of the trainings to be given within the scope of the programme
* The participant shows any diagnosed atypical development
* Children who show a level of resistance that disrupts their adaptation to normal life in pre-tests, during the study or in post-tests, children with anxiety disorder or other psychiatric problems
Minimum Eligible Age

4 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

6 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Kahramanmaraş İstiklal University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Kocaeli University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Sinem Yalnızoglu Caka

Assoc. Prof.

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Kocaeli University

Kocaeli, Izmit, Turkey (Türkiye)

Site Status

Countries

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Turkey (Türkiye)

References

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Park EJ, Lee MS, Bae SM, Kim HS, Hong M, Kim E, Lee SK, Kim J, Bhang SY. Promising Effect of the Children in Disaster: Evaluation and Recovery Intervention on Trauma Symptoms and Quality of Life for Children and Adolescents: A Controlled Study. Psychiatry Investig. 2024 Feb;21(2):123-132. doi: 10.30773/pi.2023.0202. Epub 2024 Feb 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 38321890 (View on PubMed)

Wong CL, Ip WY, Kwok BMC, Choi KC, Ng BKW, Chan CWH. Effects of therapeutic play on children undergoing cast-removal procedures: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2018 Jul 5;8(7):e021071. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021071.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29980545 (View on PubMed)

Juwita, H. 2019. "Effectiveness of multimodal interventions play therapy: Colouring and origami against anxiety levels in toddler ages," Journal of Health Science and Prevention, 3(3S), 46-51.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Silva, L., Oliveira, C., Oliveira, J., Bandeira, P., Matos, J., Gomes, E., et al. 2022. "Use of therapeutic play in nursing care for school-age children: a scoping review," Preprints (2022).

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Satapathy S, Dang S, Sagar R, Dwivedi SN. Resilience in Children and Adolescents Survived Psychologically Traumatic Life Events: A Critical Review of Application of Resilience Assessment Tools for Clinical Referral and Intervention. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Jan;23(1):288-300. doi: 10.1177/1524838020939126. Epub 2020 Jul 23.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32700641 (View on PubMed)

Bratton, S., Ray, D., Rhine, T., & Jones, L. 2005. "The Efficacy of Play Therapy With Children: A Meta-Analytic Review of Treatment Outcomes," Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 376-390.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Diaz-Rodriguez M, Alcantara-Rubio L, Aguilar-Garcia D, Perez-Munoz C, Carretero-Bravo J, Puertas-Cristobal E. The Effect of Play on Pain and Anxiety in Children in the Field of Nursing: A Systematic Review. J Pediatr Nurs. 2021 Nov-Dec;61:15-22. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2021.02.022. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33711642 (View on PubMed)

Nursanaa, W., Ady, I. 2020. "Play Therapy for Children with Anxiety Disorders," Proceedings of Social Sciences & Humanities, 81-86.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Gülmez, İ., & Karaaziz, M. 2023. "A systematic review on the use of play therapy in sexually abused children," The Journal of Social Sciences, 62(62), 450-466.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Leblanc, M., & Ritchie, M. 2001. "A meta-analysis of play therapy outcomes," Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 14, 149-163.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Humble JJ, Summers NL, Villarreal V, Styck KM, Sullivan JR, Hechler JM, Warren BS. Child-Centered Play Therapy for Youths Who Have Experienced Trauma: a Systematic Literature Review. J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2018 Nov 9;12(3):365-375. doi: 10.1007/s40653-018-0235-7. eCollection 2019 Sep.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32318206 (View on PubMed)

Ray, D. C., & Armstrong, S. A. 2021. "Child-centered play therapy: A review of research and practice," International Journal of Play Therapy, 30(1), 1-12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

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123S913

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2023/15/15

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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