The effectiveness of play therapy with life skills approach on separation anxiety syndrome in preschool children

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of play therapy with life skills approach on reducing separation anxiety syndrome in preschool children.Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this study was all the leading preschool students with separation anxiety disorder in Mashhad city-Iran in the academic year of 2018-2019. Based on Cochran’s formula, 30 children were selected by the convenient sampling method and were randomly divided into two groups of experimental (n= 15) and control (n= 15). The Separation Anxiety Scale (Hahn et al. 2003) was used to collect information. The experimental group was also trained in play therapy with a life skills approach based on Vernon model (2006) in 10 ninety-minute sessions. Data analyzed through Multivariate analysis of covariance.Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between two groups in score of separation anxiety syndrome and its components in the post-test stage (P lt; 0.05).Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that play therapy with a life skills approach can be used to reduce separation anxiety syndrome in preschool children.