The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral psychodrama group therapy (CBPGT) on inadequate guardian male adolescents’ creativity and critical thinking

Abstract

Adolescents specifically those who have inadequate guardians need to be taught to be creative and be critical thinkers in order to solve their problems or at least adapt themselves with their guardians or the miserable circumstances. In this respect, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral psychodrama group therapy (CBPGT) on the creativity and critical thinking of male adolescents with inadequate guardians. The participants were 30 male adolescents who were referred by a nursery home. Using convenient sampling method, the adolescents were recruited and using simple random method they were divided into the intervention and control groups (each 15 members). The participants in the intervention attended 10 two-hour CBPGT sessions held by a psychotherapist while the control group members did not receive any intervention. The participants in both groups completed Schaefer...s creativity attitude survey (CAS) and Ricketts... critical thinking disposition assessment (CTDA) before the intervention as the pretest and after the intervention as the posttests. The results of the analysis of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) show that CBPGT has a significant effect on improving both creativity and critical thinking of male adolescents with inadequate guardians. It is concluded that the CBPGT is a useful means to enhance creativity and critical thinking. The insights from this study can be used for implementing interventions for students, vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents living in welfare centers, and even those in correctional and rehabilitation centers.