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NCT Number: NCT07273786

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

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?

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Emotional Intelligence Behavior Emotion Regulation Emotional Regulation Empathy Skills Self-Control Social Behavior

Age range

9 year–11 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Ankara Çocuk Evleri Sitesi Müdürlüğü

Ankara, Pursaklar, Turkey (Türkiye)

About this study

-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.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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

Treatment and study plan

group social work practice based on emotion-focused therapy

Behavioral

Emotion-focused therapy, a therapy approach that prioritizes emotions over others, advocates for increasing emotional intelligence, which refers to using emotions as a developmental tool without being dominated by them (Greenberg, 2004b). Emotion-focused therapy, which places emotions at the center, is a practice that has recently become widespread in our country. It is stated that this approach helps individuals identify/be aware of their emotions, express them, make sense of them, appropriately modify/transform them, and use them in a healthy way; as a result, individuals are more successful in taking control of their lives (Greenberg 2010). From this perspective, it is believed that working with children in need of protection using this approach will be beneficial for the children themselves. The results of this study suggest that it may contribute to introducing an emotion-focused perspective into rehabilitative work with children under protection.

Primary outcomes

  1. BarOn Emotional Intelligence Scale Child and Adolescent Form

    Time frame: up to 12 weeks after registration

    This is a 60-item scale, with a minimum score of 60 and a maximum of 240. Higher scores indicate better outcomes, as they indicate improved emotional intelligence skills.

  2. Emotion Regulation Scale for Children

    Time frame: up to 12 weeks after registration

    The scale consists of 29 items and four subscales: anger (9 items), fear (8 items), sadness (7 items), and excitement (5 items). The lowest score is 29; the highest is 116. Higher scores indicate better outcomes.

  3. KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale - Child Form

    Time frame: up to 12 weeks after registration

    The scale consists of 13 items. The minimum score is 13, and the maximum score is 52. As the scale scores increase, empathic tendency increases, and as they decrease, empathic tendency decreases.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Selcuk University

Other

Collaborators

  • aile ve sosyal hizmetler bakanlığı

Registry information

Official study title

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

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2026
First posted
Dec 10, 2025
Registry last updated
Dec 10, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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