A quasi-experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of play therapy in reducing the level of anxiety among hospitalized children in Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Jammu

Abstract

Hospitalization causes stress for children of all ages. During serious illness, even older children greatly need their parents and can only tolerate brief separations. They need to know that their parents will be there when they need them most and that they are loved and missed. When a child falls ill or sustains an injury severe enough to necessitate hospitalization, it can be a traumatic experience for both the child and their family. The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of play therapy in reducing the level of anxiety among hospitalized children in Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Jammu. A quantitative research approach with quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study.60 hospitalized children were selected through purposive sampling technique (30 in experimental group and 30 in control group) Level of anxiety was assessed by using self-structured children’s anxiety scale. Result showed that before play therapy, in experimental group 22 (37%) of child had severe anxiety and in control group, 26 (43%) of child had severe anxiety. After play therapy, in experimental group 28 (47%) of child had mild anxiety, and in control group, 27 (45%) of child had severe anxiety. The study findings also revealed that majority of children i.e., 22 (37%) have severe anxiety before play therapy and 28 (47%) have mild anxiety after play therapy in experimental group. Moreover, in control group, majority of children have severe anxiety 26 (43%) before and 27 (45%) after play therapy.Analysis revealed a significant decrease in mean anxiety scores from 72.266 in the pretest to 24 in the post-test, accompanied by a reduction in standard deviation from 7.234 to 4.660 in the experimental group. The calculated 't' value of 32.0742 indicated a statistically highly significant difference between pretest and post-test anxiety levels, demonstrating the effectiveness of play therapy in reducing anxiety levels among hospitalized children.