Effect of Play Therapy Intervention on Psychological Well-Being of Physically Abused Male Children

This research aims to assess play therapy's influence in terms of social and emotional wellbeing for boys who have experienced physical abuse; concerning the hypothesis that indeed play therapy brings about such an influence. There were 9 subjects using purposive sampling based on a requirement of physical abuse aged between 8-12. A mixed methods approach was used that included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) administered to the participants before and after the intervention combined with brief interviews. Consequently an integrated intervention plan was developed including the Tamar module for Physical Abuse and a range of approaches of play therapy. The statistical test applying SPSS 22 yielded a non-significant result with the calculated P value of 0.12 > 0.05 however slight improvement in the mean scores (Pre = 50.67; Post = 49.44) implies the social support need has enhanced the children psychological well-being