Effect of Sand PlayTherapy onAggression and Emotional Adjustment of Children with Hearing Impairment

Mohsen  Saeidmanesh; Farangis Demehri; Zohreh Alipour  Esmaeili Anari

doi:10.18502/avr.v32i3.12935

Mohsen Saeidmanesh Department of Psychology, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran
Farangis Demehri Department of Psychology, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran
Zohreh Alipour Esmaeili Anari Department of Psychology, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/avr.v32i3.12935

Abstract

Background and Aim: Sand Play Therapy (SPT) is a psychotherapy and nonverbal method used for people with trauma, disabilities, and distress. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of SPT on aggression and emotional adjustment of children with a hearing impairment aged 5–7 years.

Methods: : In this quasi-experiment study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group, 30 children aged 5–7 years with hearing impairment participated. They were randomly assigned into two groups: control and experimental. The research instruments were Sinha and Singh adjustment questionnaire and the Shahim aggression questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis.

Results: There were statistically significant differences (score decrease) between the two study groups after the SPT in terms of aggression (p<0.05) and the emotional adjustment of children (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that SPT could decrease aggression and improve emotional adjustment in children with hearing loss. This method can be used to rehabilitate these children.

Keywords: Hearing impairment; emotional adjustment; aggression; sand play therapy