The Effectiveness of Parent-Child Play Therapy on Decreasing Depression Symptoms in Children with Cancer, Decreasing Perceived Stress on Their Mothers and Improving Parent-Child Relationship

Present study, aimed to assess the effect of parent-child play therapy on decreasing depression symptoms in children with cancer, decreasing perceived stress of their mothers and improving the parent-child relationship. A total of 14 children diagnosed with cancer were selected, among the patients of Dr. Sheikh Hospital in the city of Mashhad, and randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. Mothers completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (PCRS), the children completed the Child Depression Inventory (CDI), both in pre-test and post-test. Eight sessions of parent-child play therapy were adminstered separately for every pair of mother-child from intervention group. Data were analyzed by using analysis of covariance. Compared to the control group, CDI scores of intervention group reduced significantly from pre to post test. Also scores of PCRS increased significantly for the intervention group. PSS Scores of intervention groups was not significantly different from control group. As a result, parent-child play therapy can be effective in reducing depression symptoms of children with cancer, and improving the parent-child relationship; while, it was not effective for reducing mothers' level of perceived stress