Childhood poverty is a prevalent concern in the United States and is associated with poor psychological and academic outcomes. Psychosocial stressors associated with life in poverty may interrupt the development of a positive self-concept, ultimately hampering the academic achievement of children in poverty. As the therapeutic objectives of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) support the development of an increasingly positive self-concept, I explored the impact of CCPT on the academic achievement of children in poverty. Participants were composed of 55 students between the ages of 4-7 years old from seven Title 1 elementary schools in the southern United States. Of the …
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Childhood poverty is a prevalent concern in the United States and is associated with poor psychological and academic outcomes. Psychosocial stressors associated with life in poverty may interrupt the development of a positive self-concept, ultimately hampering the academic achievement of children in poverty. As the therapeutic objectives of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) support the development of an increasingly positive self-concept, I explored the impact of CCPT on the academic achievement of children in poverty. Participants were composed of 55 students between the ages of 4-7 years old from seven Title 1 elementary schools in the southern United States. Of the 55 study participants, 12 (22%) were female and 43 (78%) were male. Regarding participant ethnicity, 7 (13%) were African American, 1 (2%) was Asian American, 5 (9%) were multi-racial, 35 (64%) were Latino, 6 (11%) were Caucasian, and 1 (2%) did not report ethnicity. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 16 session CCPT treatment group (n = 25) or a waitlist control group (n = 30). A mixed between-within ANOVA was conducted to evaluate improvement in academic achievement scores between treatment and control groups across time. Results indicated a statistically significant interaction effect on the Early Achievement Composite Score of the Young Children's Achievement Test (p = .042). The standardized difference between groups was Cohen's d = .53 indicating a medium effect size. Overall, findings from this study support CCPT as an effective intervention to promote improvements in the academic achievement of children in poverty.
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