Child-centered play therapy and social–emotional competencies of African American children: A randomized controlled trial.

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) on the social – emotional competencies of African American children as measured by Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale-Parent and Teacher reports. Factorial ANOVA results indicated that parents reported statistically and practically signi fi cant improvement for children who participated in CCPT ( n = 20) in overall social – emotional competence when compared with children in the waitlist control group ( n = 17). Teachers reported practically signi fi cant improvement of children in CCPT as compared to the control group. Follow-up analysis revealed statistically signi fi cant improvement in children ’ s empathy as reported by parents and responsibility as reported by teachers.