Short Term Play Therapy for anxiety in CAMHS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An evaluation of the effect of short term play therapy in the treatment of childhood anxiety in a tier 3 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) service.
IRAS ID
124636
Contact name
Debi Maskell-Graham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christchurch University
Research summary
This research study will explore the effect of short term play therapy for children presenting with anxiety to a tier 3 CAMHS service. It will also investigate the effect of combining non-directive, directive and parent-child work. Five patients aged seven to eleven with anxiety will take part in twelve sessions of play therapy. Parents will be required to participate in some sessions. This study design has been informed by research evidence that suggests parental involvement in play therapy enhances its effect and that directive work can be beneficial in treating anxiety.\n\nParents and children will attend an initial interview and receive a separate parents’ and children’s information sheet. They will have the opportunity to ask questions and will have at least one week to consider their decision to take part in the study or not and to complete and sign the relevant consent and assent forms.\n\nThis is a mixed methods study with an emphasis on qualitative data. The methods utilised will be:\n\n1. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)(Goodman, 1997) completed by parents and children pre- and post-intervention.\n2. A semi-structure interview with parents at the end of the intervention to explore their views and opinions on the intervention including any perceived change.\n3. Analysis of the researcher/clinician’s detailed process notes on each child’s therapeutic progress including analysis of creative works such as sand play trays and paintings.\n\nQuantitative data will be used to generate descriptive statistics along a number of clinical domains which can be analysed for score change, trends and patterns. Qualitative data will be analysed using an iterative inductive approach based on the principles of grounded theory in order to identify emergent themes, trends, patterns and issues which illuminate the research question.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/EE/0159
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion