Effect of group sand play therapy on psychopathologies of adolescents with delinquent behaviors.

Prior research has established adolescent vulnerability to delinquent behavior. This single-arm, noninterventional, observational study investigated the effect of sand play therapy on the psychopathologies of adolescents with delinquent behavior. A total of 68 adolescents participated in the study. Participants were treated with 8 weekly sessions of sand play therapy, lasting 50 minutes each and conducted in groups of 3 to 4 members. The psychopathologies of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, impulsiveness, characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and impulsiveness were measured using self-reporting scales. Following therapy, depression (t = 3.28; P = .002; ES = 0.399) and anxiety (t = 4.00; P < .001; ES = 0.485) decreased significantly with moderate effect size. ADHD characteristics (t = 2.73; P = .008) and impulsiveness (t = 2.73; P = .009) also decreased significantly with effect size of 0.330 and 0.327, respectively. Self-esteem (t = -2.06, P = .043; ES = 0.251) was found to have significantly increased. The high-risk group within each psychopathology showed significantly higher improvement than the low-risk group. Results showed that group sand play therapy is effective in improving internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety, as well as externalizing problems of ADHD features and impulsiveness among adolescents with deviant behaviors.

Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory of school sandplay group therapy with maladjustment behavior in Korean adolescent.

School sandplay group therapy is a useful clinical treatment method for adolescents who cannot adapt to school due to various emotional and behavioral problems. In this study, we conducted 10 weeks of group therapy in 70 adolescents referred to as maladjustment behavior problem in the school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of sandplay therapy on the emotions and behaviors objectively through minnesota multiphasic personality test -2. There was a statistically significant difference in clinical scales such as depression, masculinity- femininity, social introversion, anger, subjective depression, need for affection, somatic complaint, and internal/external alienation after school sandplay group therapy. Sandplay therapy is estimated to have clinical effects not only on the emotional problems of maladapted high school students but also on physical problems.

The clinical effects of school sandplay group therapy on general children with a focus on Korea Child & Youth Personality Test.

BACKGROUND: This study intended to examine the comprehensive clinical effects of school sandplay group counseling on the emotions and behaviors of children for the first time in Korea. METHODS: To this objective, 10 sessions of in-school sandplay group counseling were administered to 113 fourth- to sixth-graders in an elementary school located in Cheonan city for 12 weeks from March to July 2015. Each small group consisted of 10 to 16 children and the entire 12 sessions were composed of a baseline test, 10 therapy sessions, and a post-test and evaluation session. The study subjects consisted of 56 boys (49.6%) and 57 girls (50.4%). As the evaluation instruments, an epidemiologic questionnaire and the Korea Child & Youth Personality Test were used during the baseline phase and after the termination of the counseling. RESULTS: The comparison of the scores according to the KCYP clinical scales and detailed evaluation scales before and after the 12-week counseling showed an increase in the self-esteem and a significant decline in depression in the elementary students after the counseling. CONCLUSION: It is deemed that school sandplay group counseling can help elementary school students to solve emotional problems and improve their self-esteem.