• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.141-159
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to develop an observation scale for analyzing the responses of child and therapist in child-centered play therapy in terms of item discrimination, validity, and reliability. The observation scale was developed on the basis of child-centered play therapy literature, the author's experience of child-centered play therapy, the observation of video tapes of play therapy session, and discussions with child-centered play therapy experts. The participants in this study were 54 children aged from 4 to 9 years old who have emotional and behavioral problems, and 7 therapists who consult with the children. The reliability of factors, as measured by inter-rater reliability and Cronbach's', ranged from .72 to .77. The results of factor analysis identified 2 factors and 21 items associated with the reponses of the children, and 2 factors and 19 items associated with the responses of the therapists. The significant factors identified were as follows; (1) the child's response style; (2) the child's response content (adaptability, initiation, structuring, flexibility); (3) the therapist's response style, and (4) the therapist's response content (facilitative response, structuring, nonfacilitative response). In conclusion, these results demonstrated that the observation scale provides a valid and reliable means of analyzing the responses of child and therapist in child-centered play therapy.