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

The Effect of Group Social Work Intervention Based on Emotion-Focused Therapy on Emotion Regulation Skills, Emotional Intelligence and Empathic Tendency Levels of Children in Need of Protection

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?

-Participants in the study completed the Children's Emotion Regulation Scale (CRS), the BarOn Emotional Intelligence Test Child and Adolescent Form and the KA-Si Empathic Tendency Scale Child Form before the study began. Following the 12-session group process, the same scales were completed for both the experimental and control groups, and differences between the experimental and control groups were examined.

Some participants had difficulty reading and understanding the scale items during the pretest and posttest evaluation processes. Both tests were administered one-on-one with the participants, and those who did not understand were read one by one. The quantitative data collected were then entered into SPSS.

Inclusion Criteria:

• • Be between 9 and 11 years old

  • Be able to read and write
  • Have no known traumatic event/abuse history
  • Have been accepted to the organization for at least 3 months (have adapted to the organization)
  • Have no severe/advanced psychiatric disability/diagnosis
  • Have been declared suitable by the group leader
  • Be willing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• • Being outside the 9-11 age range

  • Being admitted to the institution less than 3 months ago or not yet having adapted to the institution
  • Being a foreign national
  • Not knowing Turkish
  • Having a history of abuse
  • Being hospitalized
  • Being a child who left the institution without permission
  • Being in the final stages of transfer and return to family