EFFECTS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER DELIVERED PLAY THERAPY INTERVENTION ON THE SOCIAL SKILLS OF YOUNG CHILDREN: A PILOT STUDY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Health Sciences (Early Intervention) in the University of Canterbury by Aleksandra Gosteva University of Canterbury 2013 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2 Childhood Conduct Problems: New Zealand Context ........................................................... 2 The Importance of Intervention ............................................................................................. 3 Behavioural Parent Training .................................................................................................. 4 Early Childhood Teachers Addressing Conduct Problems .................................................... 7 New Zealand Early Childhood Resources for Addressing Conduct Problems ...................... 8 Play Therapy Training as Possible Intervention .................................................................. 12 Types of Play Therapy ......................................................................................................... 14 The Advantages of CCPT for Children with Conduct Problems ......................................... 15 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 17 CCPT Delivered by Play Therapists .................................................................................... 17 CCPT Delivered by Teachers .............................................................................................. 28 Studies of Teachers’ Perceptions of CCPT Training ........................................................... 33 Behavioural Interventions for Addressing Conduct Problems ............................................ 38 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 42 Chapter 3 Methods ................................................................................................................... 43 Research Design ................................................................................................................... 43 Human Ethics Approval ....................................................................................................... 44 Recruitment and Teacher Consent Process .......................................................................... 44 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria .......................................................................................... 44 Child and Parent Informed Consent ..................................................................................... 45 Setting .................................................................................................................................. 45 Participants ........................................................................................................................... 45 Characteristics of teachers ................................................................................................................. 46 Characteristics of the children .......................................................................................................... 46 Measures .............................................................................................................................. 47 Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) ......................................................................... 47 Play Observation Scale (POS) .......................................................................................................... 48 Teacher satisfaction questionnaires ................................................................................................ 49 Teacher interviews ............................................................................................................................... 49 Procedures ............................................................................................................................ 50 Baseline ................................................................................................................................................... 50 Teacher training .................................................................................................................................... 50 CCPT intervention ............................................................................................................................... 51 Follow-up................................................................................................................................................ 51 Chapter 4 Teaching Early Childhood Teachers Child Centred Play Therapy Strategies: A Manual for Trainers ................................................................................................................. 52 Early Childhood Teachers Using Play Therapy Strategies .................................................. 52 The Concept of Child Centred Play Therapy ....................................................................... 53 Child Centred Play Therapy: What Children Learn and How It Links to Te Whāriki ........ 53 CCPT Strategies ................................................................................................................... 62 Strategy1: Prepare for the play session. ......................................................................................... 62 Strategy 2: Be reactive to children. ................................................................................................. 65 Strategy 3: Follow the two general principles when responding to the child. .................... 66 Strategy 4: Use the following verbal strategies when responding to the child. ................. 67 Session Outlines ................................................................................................................... 73 Session 1 .............................................................................................................................. 73 Session 2 .............................................................................................................................. 74 Chapter 5 Results ..................................................................................................................... 75 Results for Teachers ............................................................................................................. 75 Delivery of the CCPT training ......................................................................................................... 75 Implementation of the CCPT strategies in practice .................................................................... 77 Teachers’ overall perceptions of the impact of the CCPT training ....................................... 79 Comments on the Teacher Satisfaction Questionnaires ............................................................ 91 Results for Children ............................................................................................................. 92 Positive play ........................................................................................................................................... 92 Problem behaviours ............................................................................................................................. 92 Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire ........................................................................................ 97 Chapter 6 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 101 Discussion of Quantitative Data ........................................................................................ 101 Discussion of Qualitative Data .......................................................................................... 105 Social Validity ................................................................................................................... 108 Limitations of the Present Study ........................................................................................ 109 Implications of the Results for Early Childhood Education Centres ................................. 111 Implications for Further Research ..................................................................................... 112 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 114 References .............................................................................................................................. 115 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 133 List of Tables Table 1 Studies of Child Centred Play Therapy (CCPT) Delivered by Play Therapists.........................................................................21 Table 2 Case Studies of Child Centred Play Therapy (CCPT) Delivered by Play Therapists.........................................................................26 Table 3 Studies of Child