The Effect of the Opposite Intention Method on Anxiety in 7-12 Year Old Boy Children with Verbal Fluency Disorder in Tehran

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Verbal fluency is one of the best ways to get children interested in reading and academic progress. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of determine the effect of the opposite intention method on anxiety in 7-12 year old boy children with verbal fluency disorder.

Methodology: This research was a quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The research population was all boy children referred to speech therapy clinics of Tehran in the second half of 2024 year. The sample of this study was 30 children with verbal fluency disorder who were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of 20 minute (two sessions per week) of opposite intention training, and the control group remained on the waiting list for training. The data of this study were collected with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spilberger et al., 1970) and analyzed with univariate analysis of covariance method in SPSS-24 software.

Findings: The results of this study indicated that the opposite intention method reduced overt and covert anxiety in 7-12 year old boy children with verbal fluency disorder at the post-test and follow-up stages (P<0.001).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, child counselors and psychologists can use the opposite intention method to reduce overt and covert anxiety in 7-12 year old boy children with verbal fluency disorder.