Background: It is very important to pay attention to the development of children in different social dimensions and to take preventive measures against the occurrence of behavioral problems at an early age. Therefore, it will be helpful to identify targeted and effective intervention programs in this field. So far, various methods have been used to reduce children's behavioral problems, However, there is a research gap regarding the comparison of the effectiveness of the social skills training package based on puppet show and Walker's social skills training program on children's behavioral problems.
Aims: The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of social skills training based on puppet shows and Walker's social skills training program on preschool children's behavioral problems.
Methods: The current research design was a semi-experimental type of pre-test, post-test with control group. The statistical population of the research included all preschool children in Kerman city, from among them a sample of 60 people was selected as available and they were placed in two experimental groups and one control group. One of the experimental groups of training through the social skills training package based on puppet shows (10 sessions) and the other experimental group underwent 11 sessions of training through Walker's training program (1983). The data collection tool was Gresham & Elliot (1990) Social Skills Rating System. The research data was analyzed by univariate and multivariate covariance analysis using SPSS-24 software.
Results: The results of covariance analysis in the present study showed that both intervention methods were effective in reducing behavioral problems. However, the effectiveness of social skills training based on puppet shows in internalizing and hyperactivity problems was higher than Walker's method (P< 0.05).
Conclusion: According to the obtained results, it seems that the use of intervention methods based on puppet shows are more effective in improving the behavioral problems of preschool children than purely mental methods, Therefore, preschool teachers and child psychologists can use the mentioned method to reduce children's behavioral problems.