EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING PLAY THERAPY ATTITUDES AND SKILLS TO UNDERGRADUATE HUMAN SERVICES MAJORS

This study investigated the effectiveness of an undergraduate human services course based on Landreth's (1991 , 2002) 10-week model of filia, therapy and Adlerian principles as in Kinder therapy ( White, Flynt, & Draper, 1997 ). Specifically, this research determined whether the training received in this course facilitated change in the undergraduate students' attitudes toward and empathic behavior with children, the students' parenting attitudes, and their play therapy attitude, knowledge, and skills. Experimental and control groups of undergraduate human services majors completed pretest and posttest measures consisting of the Barnett Liking of Children Scale (BLOCS) ( Barnett & Sinisi, 1990 ), the Adolescent and Adult Parenting Attitudes Inventory-2 (AAPI-2) (Bavolek & Keene, 2001), and the Play Therapy Attitude-Knowledge-Skills Survey (PTAKSS) ( Kao & Landreth, 1997 ). Each group also had a 30-minute videotaped play session with a young child rated using the Measurement of Empathy in Adult and Child Interactions (MEACI) ( Stover, Guerney, & O'Connell, 1971 ). The results revealed the undergraduate students in the course had significantly better scores on the Inappropriate Parental Expectations scale and the Strong Belief in the Use of Corporal Punishment scale of the AAPI-2; the Knowledge, Skills and Total scales of the PTAKSS; and all scales of the MEACI than the control group of students. In addition, the students in the course had significantly better posttest scores than pretest scores on the Inappropriate Parental Expectations scale of the AAPI-2; the Knowledge, Skills and Total scales of the PTAKSS; and all scales of the MEACI.