Effectiveness of Play Therapy-Based Interventions and Their Impact on Improving Socio-Emotional Skills in Children with Speech Disorders

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of play therapy-based interventions and their impact on improving socio-emotional skills in children with speech disorders in Tehran.

Methods and Materials: This research method was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test, along with a control group and a follow-up phase. The statistical population of this study included children with speech disorders who visited the Roozbeh Speech Therapy Center in Tehran in 2024. The research sample consisted of 32 boys aged 5 to 6 years, selected through purposive sampling. They were then divided into two groups of 16, comprising an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received 12 sessions of play therapy. Data were collected using the Miller Socio-Emotional Skills Questionnaire (1997) and analyzed through mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures in SPSS22.

Findings: The results of this study indicated that the intervention was effective in changing the socio-emotional skill scores of children with speech disorders. The differences from the post-test to the follow-up phase were not statistically significant (p > .05). This indicates that the results were sustained over the follow-up phase, and the effectiveness of the play therapy-based interventions on improving socio-emotional skills in children with speech disorders remained stable.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that play therapy, as a multidimensional intervention, helps children with speech disorders enhance their socio-emotional skills across all dimensions.