Social anxiety disorders and drama-therapy

Subject Areas : روان درمانگری

Parirokh Dadsetan ¹ , Asieh Anari ² , Bahram Saleh Sedghpour ³

1 - PhD Islamic Azad University South Tehran Branch
2 - M. A. in Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychology
3 - Shahid Raja-ei University

Received: 2015-06-05 Accepted : 2015-06-05 Published : 2007-12-22

Keywords: Children, drama therapy, social anxiety disorder,

Abstract :

This study investigated the effectiveness of dramatherapy in reducing the symptoms of social anxiety disorder - including performance anxiety, performance avoidance, social anxiety, and social avoidance. 220 children (10-11 years old), enrolled in two elementary schools in Tehran, completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA; Masia-Warner, Klein, & Liebowitz, 2003). 32 children receiving the highest scores on the LSAS-CA were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 16) and a control group (N = 16). For six weeks, the experimental group received two 2-hour sessions of drama-therapy. The control group received none. The results showed a significant reduction of the symptoms among children in the experimental group as compared to the control group. A three-month followup replicated the findings. Clinical implications for the prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorders among children are discussed.