Effectiveness of Group Games on Social-Emotional Skills of Children between 7 To 8 Years Old Suffering from Down Syndrome in Ahvaz

Yousefi, Firouzeh; Poshaneh, Kambiz; Saranjeh, Masoud

Volume 6 - MEJDS (2016) 6: 74 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 20.1001.1.23222840.1395.6.0.25.6

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Yousefi F, Poshaneh K, Saranjeh M. Effectiveness of Group Games on Social-Emotional Skills of Children between 7 To 8 Years Old Suffering from Down Syndrome in Ahvaz. MEJDS 2016; 6 :74-79
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-500-en.html

Effectiveness of Group Games on Social-Emotional Skills of Children between 7 To 8 Years Old Suffering from Down Syndrome in Ahvaz

Firouzeh Yousefi ^*

¹, Kambiz Poshaneh¹

, Masoud Saranjeh²

1- Tehran Central Branch, Islamic Azad University
2- Shahid Chamran University

Abstract: (9172 Views)

Background: Down syndrome is one of the problems that children suffer from. This syndrome has been widely taken into consideration by clinical specialists and Psychologists. Children with Down syndrome are very sensitive to aspects of their social environment. Children with Down syndrome show high levels of social - emotional problems compared to normal children. Therefore, alexithymia is one of the potential problems in people with Down syndrome which is referred to disability in cognitive processing of emotional information and regulation of emotions. Several methods have been introduced to improve the socio-emotional skills of children with Down syndrome, including group game therapy. It seems that the game process leads to socialization, increases confidence and learning in children. For this purpose, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of group games on socio-emotional skills of children with Down syndrome.

Material and Methods: This research was a pilot project and a pretest-posttest type with experimental and control group. The experimental and control groups were equal; random sampling and a pre-test was executed on both groups before applying the experimental interventions on experimental and control groups followed by a post-test at the end of intervention. The difference between pre-test and post-test in each group was evaluated in terms of statistical significance. Statistical population of this study included all 7-8 years old children with Down syndrome in special schools of Ahvaz city in the academic year of 2012- 2013. The statistical sample in this study was 30 children (16 girls and 14 boys) with Down syndrome. In this study a multi-stage random sampling method was used so that two schools were selected first among district 2 of educational zones in Ahwaz and among schools located in district 2. After the diagnostic assessment finally 30 students from first and second grade elementary, aged 7-8 years were selected and randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. In order to investigate the effectiveness of group games on social-emotional skills of children with Down syndrome the Social-emotional skills Bostin questionnaire (2007) was used.

This questionnaire which was developed by Bostin in 2007 consists of 50 questions and measures five dimensions of behavior (skills, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social relations and adaptive behavior. The questionnaire scale is five-point Likert and all the questions are directly scored. It is notable that this questionnaire has not been already used in Iran and it is the first time translated and used in this study. It was also found after investigating that the validity and reliability of each of the subscales of the questionnaire is desirable. Furthermore, the games of (relaxation-learning, animals power game, news reading game, Patchwork humor, Secret, throne, poping balloons, the pyramid of glasses, Volleyball with loop, creating a country, the creative coloring) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of play therapy.

Results: The results showed that performing program group games affect social and emotional skills and increase the level of skills in children with Down syndrome in socio-emotional skills (Skills, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social and adaptive behavior) (p<0.001). The amount has remained stable on the test track.

Conclusion: The results showed that using group games is a way to increase social and emotional skills in children with Down syndrome. Group gaming has been instrumental in improving and increasing the socio-emotional skills of the children and reduced the symptoms of anxiety, behavioral and emotional disorders, and increased their compatibility. Generally, the results showed that the children’s ability and skills in the areas of socio-emotional skills listed has been increased significantly after receiving game programs.

Keywords: group games, social-emotional skills, children with Down syndrome

Full-Text [PDF 661 kb] (3351 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Rehabilitation

References

1. Faryar A. Rakhshan F. Learning Disabilities. First Edition. Tabriz: Fararavan Pub; 2001,pp:70. [Persian]

2. Asadpour S. The problems of orthography in fifth grade boys and girls in Shiraz. [MSc Thesis for Exceptional Children Psychology]. [Tehran, Iran]: School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tehran university; 1996, pp: 23. [Persian]

3. Glover JA, Ronning PR, Bruning RH. Cognitive psychology for teachers. Kharrazi A. (Persian Translator). First Edition. Tehran: Markaze Nashre Daneshgahi. 1993,pp:34-35.

4. Sousa DA. How the Special needs brain learn. First Edition. Kajbaf MB, Yarmoammadian A. (Persian translators). Isfahan: University of Isfahan Pub. 1999,pp:125. [Persian]

5. Kirk S. Chalfant J. Development and Academic Learning Disabilities. Ronaghi M, Khanjani Z, Vasvi M. (Persian translators). First Edition. Tehran: Special Education Pub; 1999, pp:88.

6. Jenaabadi H. The Relationships of Self-efficacy and Emotional on Educational Achievement among High School Students of Martyr's Girls. Studies of Educational Psychology. 2014;10(17):51-64. [Persian]

7. Kaplan H, Saduk B. Summary of psychiatry, behavioral science and clinical psychiatry. Rafiee H, Sobhanian Kh. (Persian translators). 2th Edition. Tehran: Arjmand Pub; 2002, pp:230.

8. Howard GS. Culture tales: A narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology, and psychotherapy. American psychologist. 1991;46(3):187-197. [DOI:10.1037//0003-066X.46.3.187]

9. Association AP, others. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub; 2013,pp:98-99.

10. Salvatore G, Dimaggio G, Semerari A. A model of narrative development: Implications for understanding psychopathology and guiding therapy. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. 2004;77(2):231-254. [DOI:10.1348/147608304323112519]

11. Yousefi louyeh M, Matin A. Narrative therapy effects on coping strategies in children with learning difficulties. Research on Exceptional Children. 2006; 2(20): 603-622. [Persian]

12. Norbury CF, Bishop DV. Narrative skills of children with communication impairments. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2003;38(3):287-313. [DOI:10.1080/136820310000108133]

13. Friedberg RD. Storytelling and cognitive therapy with children. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy. 1994;8(3):209-217. [DOI:10.1891/0889-8391.8.3.209]

14. Webb-Mitchell B. The importance of stories in the act of caring. Pastoral Psychology. 1995;43:215-225. [DOI:10.1007/BF02253788]

15. Geldard K, Geldard D, Foo RY. Counselling children: A practical introduction. Sage; 1997, p:73.

16. Montero Kovach R. Bridging Communication with Story Technique. West wing publishing. 1999:127.

17. Larner G. Narrative child family therapy. Family Process. 1996;35(4):423-440. [DOI:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1996.00423.x]

18. Vigneau F, Bors DA. Items in context: Assessing the dimensionality of Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 2005;65(1):109-123. [DOI:10.1177/0013164404267286]

19. Rahmani P. The efficacy of narrative therapy and storytelling in reducing reading errors of dyslexic children. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2011;29:780-785. [DOI:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.305]

20. Fallahchai R. The survey dyslexia and dysgraphia in elementary students [MSc Thesis]. Tehran, Iran: School of Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University; 1995, pp:31-32. [Persian]

21. Goncalves OF, Machado PP. Cognitive narrative psychotherapy: Research foundations. 1999; 55(10):1179-91. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199910)55:10<1179::AID-JCLP2>3.3.CO;2-C [DOI:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199910)55:103.3.CO;2-C]

22. Yousefi louyeh M, Delavar A, Yousefi louyeh M. Narrative therapy efficacy in reducing symptoms of anxiety disorders anxiety in fourth grade students. Research on Exceptional Children. 2008; 8(3):281-294. [Persian]

23. Schwartzberg ET, Silverman MJ. Effects of music-based social stories on comprehension and generalization of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders: a randomized effectiveness study. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 2013;40(3):331-337. [DOI:10.1016/j.aip.2013.06.001]