Meta-analysis of single-case evaluations of child-centered play therapy for treating mental health symptoms.

Abstract

As the demand for childhood mental health intervention rises, there is a need for increased evidentiary support for developmentally sensitive approaches that address childhood mental health symptoms. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) has been recognized as one of the most frequently used approaches for this population due to its responsiveness to cognitive and psychosocial developmental levels. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the degree of effectiveness of CCPT for decreasing common childhood mental health symptoms based on single-case research design (SCRD) data. The systematic search strategy yielded 11 CCPT SCRD studies with 65 total effect sizes that were analyzed to determine omnibus treatment effect. Results indicated CCPT had a moderate effect for decreasing internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social skill deficits. This study adds to the evidence base for CCPT incorporating SCRD data into the corpus of CCPT meta-analytic data and provides further support that CCPT should be considered an appropriate intervention to address common childhood mental health symptoms. Based on these results, the authors provide implications for CCPT practitioners and for future directions to build the intervention’s evidence base.

Culturally responsive play therapy with military-connected children and families: Opportunities for rigorous research.

“…Researchers may consider developing and maintaining community-based partnerships for the recruitment and retainment of military-connected clients. In these efforts, the clinical services provided are empirically evaluated, responding to a call from researchers for monitoring outcomes in the community-setting (Esposito-Smythers et al, 2011; Pester et al, 2019). A scholar–practitioner partnership may inform what exemplary practices are for military-connected children.…”

Systematic review of single case design meta‐analyses for school‐age students with autism spectrum disorders: Current trend and future direction

“…Of the three studies with data pertaining to race and/or ethnicity, only one reported percentages across all participants in which the participants were White (58%), Black (24%), Asian (8%), Multiracial (8%), and Latino/a (3%) (Barton et al, 2017). Dart et al (2014) reported the percentage of White participants (17.8%) and Pester et al (2019) reported the races of participants, but did not include percentages in their study.…”

Exploring the impact of child-centered play therapy for children exhibiting behavioral problems: A meta-analysis.

“…Lin and Bratton (2015) found moderate effect sizes for CCPT interventions across diagnosis while Ray et al (2015) found small to moderate effect sizes for CCPT when used within the school systems. When exploring studies of single-case designs of CCPT, Pester et al (2019) found moderate effect sizes for externalizing and internalizing behaviors and children's social skills. Jensen et al (2017) meta-analysis found moderate effect sizes for play therapy, while noting the need for more rigorous research studies in play therapy, specifically the use of randomized controlled designs.…”

“…There is a strong empirical base for Child Centered Play therapy (Landreth, 2012; Ray et al, 2015; Lin & Bratton, 2015; Pester et al, 2019). Recently, several researchers used meta-analyses to explore CCPT across diagnoses and within different settings.…”

“…As the rates of behavioral issues in children continue to increase it is important to explore if CCPT is effective in addressing this growing mental health concern. While several researchers’ meta-analyses findings identified small to moderate treatment effects for CCPT modalities across broad presenting concerns and outcome measures (Jensen et al, 2017; Lin & Bratton, 2015; Ray et al, 2015; Pester et al, 2019) there is a need for CCPT research specifically on the treatment of problem behaviors. (Jensen et al, 2017).…”