A Comparative Study on the Effectiveness of Individual and Group Play Therapy on Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder among Children / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: This research compared the effectiveness of play therapy provided individually or in groups for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms among children. METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial that used a multi-stage random sampling method. Participants included 45 children aged 6 to 10 years old with ODD, all of whom had been referred to medical consultation centers in Ahvaz, Iran in 2012. Experimental groups consisted of 15 children receiving individual play therapy and 15 receiving group play therapy, while the control group consisted of 15 randomly selected children. Data were collected using the child behavior checklist parent report form and teacher report form, along with clinical interviews with the parents. Play therapy took place weekly for eight total sessions; individual sessions lasted 45 minutes each, while group sessions were each 60 minutes in duration. Participants were assessed in three stages, including pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 2-month follow-up. PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and analysis of covariance analysis methods were used to analyze data. RESULTS: Results showed meaningful decreases in ODD symptoms in the experimental groups in comparison with the control group, based on parent reporting (P≤0.001 and F=129.40) and the teacher reports additionally showed meaningful decreases in ODD symptoms in the experimental groups compared to the control group, (P≤0.001 and F=93.14). Furthermore, the effects were maintained after 2 months. CONCLUSION: This research supports the efficacy of individual and group play therapy for the treatment of ODD in children, as well as the consistency of the effects at 2-month follow-up.

The Factorial Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Persian Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: With global changes in the current state of work and employment, the role of health-adverse psychosocial work environments has received increasing attention in developed as well as in rapidly developing countries. Thus, there is a need to apply valid measurement tools for monitoring and preventive purposes. This study aims to examine the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, assessing one of the internationally leading concepts of stressful work. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study of a random sample of 202 white collar employees in an industrial company in Iran analyzes the ERI scales by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, aspects of construct and criterion validity are tested. To this end, correlations of ERI scales with subscales of organizational injustice, a complementary work stress model, and also the correlations of ERI scales with a questionnaire assessing psychosomatic symptoms are performed. RESULTS: Internal consistency of the three ERI scales was satisfactory (Cronbach α effort: 0.76, reward: 0.79, overcommitment: 0.75). Fit indices of confirmatory factor analysis pointed to an adequate representation of the theoretical construct (e.g., adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI): 0.73, goodness of fit index (GFI): 0.78). Negative correlations with subscales of organizational injustice supported the notion of construct validity of the ERI scales, and positive correlations of ERI scales with psychosomatic symptoms indicated preliminary criterion validity. CONCLUSION: The Persian version of the ERI questionnaire has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used as a valid instrument in research on this topic.