Child-Centered Play Therapy and Social-Emotional Competencies of African American Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) on the social-emotional competencies of African American children as measured by Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale-Parent and Teacher reports. Factorial ANOVA results indicated that parents reported statistically and practically significant improvement for children who participated in CCPT (n = 20) in overall social-emotional competence when compared with children in the waitlist control group (n = 17). Teachers reported practically significant improvement of children in CCPT as compared to the control group. Follow-up analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in children's empathy as reported by parents and responsibility as reported by teachers.