The effects of Group Theraplay on children’s anger expression, aggression, and self-efficacy

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Group Theraplay on children’s anger expression styles, aggression, and self-efficacy. Fourteen fourth-grade students from D Elementary School in Gyeonggi Province participated in the program. A total of 12 sessions were conducted, consisting of one pre-test, one post-test, and ten Group Theraplay sessions. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS Statistics 26, using paired-samples t-tests and nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The significance level was set at .05. Results showed that, first, Group Theraplay significantly increased anger control, a sub-domain of anger expression styles, and significantly decreased anger expression. While anger expression scores at the post-test were lower than at the pre-test, the difference was not statistically significant. Second, Group Theraplay significantly reduced children’s aggression. Third, Group Theraplay significantly enhanced children’s self-efficacy, showing significant increases in the sub-domains of self-confidence and self-regulatory efficacy. Preference for task difficulty was higher in the post-test than in the pre-test, but the difference was not statistically significant. This study is significant in that it examined the effects of Group Theraplay on children’s anger management and expression patterns, aggression, and self-efficacy.