The Effects of Group Social Work Intervention on Children's Emotional Intelligence, Emotion Regulation Skills and Empathy Tendencies

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

group social work practice based on emotion-focused therapy: Emotion-focused therapy, a therapy approach that prioritizes emotions over others, advocates for increasing emotional intelligence, which refers to using emotions as a developmental tool without being dominated by them (Greenberg, 2004b). Emotion-focused therapy, which places emotions at the center, is a practice that has recently become widespread in our country. It is stated that this approach helps individuals identify/be aware of their emotions, express them, make sense of them, appropriately modify/transform them, and use them in a healthy way; as a result, individuals are more successful in taking control of their lives (Greenberg 2010). From this perspective, it is believed that working with children in need of protection using this approach will be beneficial for the children themselves. The results of this study suggest that it may contribute to introducing an emotion-focused perspective into rehabilitative work with children under protection.

Study summary

The general objective of this study is to determine the effects of an emotion-focused therapy-based group social work intervention on the emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency levels of children aged 9-11 years in need of protection and living in a children's home complex, and to explore the participants' experiences of the group intervention. The independent variable of the study is the emotion-focused therapy-based group social work intervention. The dependent variables are the children's emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency levels.

Within the framework of the stated general objective, the quantitative questions addressed in the study are as follows:

1. Is there a significant difference between the emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency scores between the experimental and control groups before the intervention?
2. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency of the participants in the experimental group after the intervention?
3. After the intervention, is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores on emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency of the participants in the control group?
4. After the intervention, is there a significant difference between the post-test scores on emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency of the participants in the experimental group and the post-test scores on emotion regulation skills, emotional intelligence, and empathic tendency of the participants in the control group?

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• BarOn Emotional Intelligence Scale Child and Adolescent Form — up to 12 weeks after registration
  This is a 60-item scale, with a minimum score of 60 and a maximum of 240. Higher scores indicate better outcomes, as they indicate improved emotional intelligence skills.
• Emotion Regulation Scale for Children — up to 12 weeks after registration
  The scale consists of 29 items and four subscales: anger (9 items), fear (8 items), sadness (7 items), and excitement (5 items). The lowest score is 29; the highest is 116. Higher scores indicate better outcomes.
• KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale - Child Form — up to 12 weeks after registration
  The scale consists of 13 items. The minimum score is 13, and the maximum score is 52. As the scale scores increase, empathic tendency increases, and as they decrease, empathic tendency decreases.

Trial sites (1)

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