Development of the child’s ego strength scale: An observation-based assessment of the board game behaviors in play therapy in Korea
Abstract BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to develop a scale for assessing children’s ego strength through the observation of children playing board games in a therapeutic setting. To assess the ego strength of children in this developmental stage, it is necessary to observe their attitudes during game play therapy, which is the most comfortable psychotherapy technique for children at this developmental stageMethodData were collected from 127 play therapists and play therapist-supervisors, who observed 55 children aged 7–9 who received play therapy in Korea. The scale was created through factor analysis and verification of criterion-related validity.ResultsWe generated a Child’s Ego Strength Scale (CESS) consisting of five sub-factors (Coping Strategy, Cognitive Strategy, Ego Restriction, Interpersonal Functioning, Frustration Tolerance) through exploratory factor analysis. The scale met the goodness of fit criteria in a confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis of therapy sessions of children with strong and weak ego strength, as identified by play therapists, showed a significant difference between the two groups in all five sub-variables. There was a significant correlation between the CESS scores and scores of ego strength-related variables of the Rorschach scale, indicating good criterion-related validity.ConclusionThe CESS appears to be a practical method for the assessment of ego strength in the field of child counseling.