The effect of poetry reading on self-concept of primary adolescents

Abstract

Abstract Objectives this study, regarding the importance and significance of self-concept in children’s psychological health and considering the strong role of art in meeting psychological needs, aimed at investigating the effect of poetry reading on the self-concept of Adolescents. Methods This study was a classic experimental design of pre-test and posttest with two groups of intervention and control in the academic year 2016–2017. The research population included Adolescents who were studying in the city of Aq Qaladar in the province of Golestan, Iran. Sixty students. Data collecting tools included two questionnaires and “Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept” scale. The experimental groups were provided with poetry reading in eight group sessions of 60 min for 4 weeks. The poems were approved by 10 teachers with 10 years of experience, and the supervisor. Finally, paired t-test and independent t-test were used to analyze data using SPSS 16 (SPSS Statistics is a software package used for interactive, or batched, statistical analysis). Results Adolescents self-concept in the control group was 57.9(4.33) and in the experimental group 62.4(4.28) out of 80 questionnaires which showed a significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.001). Which demonstrated the effectiveness of poetry reading on Adolescents self-concept. Conclusions Considering the positive impact of poetry reading on adolescent self-esteem, this intervention is recommended to improve adolescent self-esteem.