Intervention effect of group counseling on social support and post-stress growth of orphans and vulnerable children in China

Abstract

Orphans and vulnerable children fall under the category of children who are at risk of exposure to more stressful circumstances and receive less social assistance compared to other children. This study aims to investigate the impact of group counseling based on social intervention and psychological therapy (SSGPC) on social support and the perceived stress growth of orphans and vulnerable children. In one special educational needs school in Nanning, China, the SSGPC was developed and implemented. Using the social support and post-stress growth scales, the researchers investigated the effects of SSGPC on orphans and vulnerable children. Twenty-seven orphans and vulnerable children between the ages of nine and 12 were arbitrarily assigned to the experimental and control groups. A pre-test post-test method of quasi-experimental design was applied, with 13 participants in the experimental group and 14 in the control group. The results revealed that the intervention group had significantly higher scores for social support and post-stress growth than the control group. The SSGPC had significantly improved the levels of social support for orphans. The findings indicated that the SSGPC provided an effective way to improve social support and post-stress growth of orphans and vulnerable children.