The purpose of the study was to find out the impacts of group play therapy for siblings of children with disabilities on psycho-social adoptability and family cohesion. Siblings of children with disabilities have not only internalized or/and externali...
The purpose of the study was to find out the impacts of group play therapy for siblings of children with disabilities on psycho-social adoptability and family cohesion. Siblings of children with disabilities have not only internalized or/and externalized problems but also difficulties of adapting in their home or/and school lives due to low self-concept about themselves. And they also show low emotional intimacy in family relationship. Therefore, to solve these kinds of problems needs some mediate strategies. To do this, Group Play Therapy seems to be the most effective since it provides these children with opportunities to talk about their similar situations, worries and desires. Also it helps these children to relax and purify their emotions. Therefore, this study was designed to learn the impacts of group play therapy for siblings of children with disabilities on psycho-social adoptability and family cohesion.
The subjects of this study have a siblings with disabilities. Subjects were school-aged (from 6 to 12) and were referred by their parents for therapy because of their behavior problems such as withdrawal, aggression, distraction, diffusion, anxiety, depression, and so on.
This study was designed as pre and post test. While no treatment was provided for the control group, the experimental group was provided group play therapy. This study was consisted of ten sessions with twice a week for ninety minutes in each time. One session of group play therapy is composed of relaxing activities, structured activities, discussion and free activities. The introduction of the program consists of self-exposure and establishing trust, the middle part consists of emotion effusion, self-concept establishment, brotherhood recognition, and understanding of siblings' disabilities. The last part is aimed at family relationship recognition.
In order to measure changes of psycho-social adoptability and family cohesion were used CSCS, K-CBCL, and FAST. Self-concepts measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale(CSCS) and behavior problems measured by Korea-child Behavior Checklist(K-CBCL). And Family System TEST(FAST) was used to show Family Cohesion.
The results of this study were as follows;
First, the siblings of children with disabilities who participated in the group play therapy showed improvement in their self-concepts.
Second, the siblings of children with disabilities who participated in the group play therapy had less problems than before taking part in the group play therapy.
Third, the siblings of children with disabilities who participated in the group play therapy showed improved in their family cohesion.
Therefore, we can say that the group play therapy for siblings of children with disabilities has positive impacts on psycho-social adoptability and family cohesion for children with disabilities.