en عمومى General پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="color:#339999;"><b>Background:</b></span> Emotion regulation and separation anxiety are some of the problems faced by elementary-school students. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy (CBPT) on emotion regulation and separation anxiety of elementary-school children in Isfahan. </span><br> <span style="line-height:normal"><span style="color:#339999;"><b>Methods:</b></span> This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all male elementary-school students in Isfahan, Iran in 2020. Using the convenience sampling method, 30 students were selected and divided into experimental and control groups (n= 15 per group). The experimental group underwent eight sessions (one 30-minute group session per week) of CBPT, while the control group received no intervention. The research tools included the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the Separation Anxiety Assessment Scale-Parent version (SAAS-P). Data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance in SPSS 22 software.<span style="font-size:14.0pt"></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:normal"><span style="color:#339999;"><b>Results:</b></span> The participants included 30 elementary-school students, aged 9.12&plusmn;1.35 years old. The mean &plusmn; SD of the post-test scores of emotion regulation and separation anxiety in the CBPT group was 58.26&plusmn;1.96 and 45.26&plusmn;1.08 and was 52.26&plusmn;1.96 and 76.33&plusmn;2.67 for the control group. The results indicated that CBPT improved emotion regulation and reduced separation anxiety in elementary-school students (P= 0.001).</span><br> <span style="line-height:normal"><span style="color:#339999;"><b>Conclusion:</b></span> &nbsp;It can thus be concluded that play therapy with a cognitive-behavioral approach can mitigate anxiety and improve emotion regulation in elementary-school students.</span></span></span></div> Anxiety, Child, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotional Regulation, Play Therapy 730 738 http://caspianjp.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-186-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatemeh Sadeghi fatmoghadam@yahoo.com 10031947532846004196 10031947532846004196 No Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Shokoufeh Mousavi shmousavi78@pnu.ac.ir 10031947532846004197 10031947532846004197 Yes Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Ali Goudarzi drgodarzi@yahoo.com 10031947532846004198 10031947532846004198 No Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Mahmoud Reza Shahsavari mahmoudshahsavary@yahoo.com 10031947532846004199 10031947532846004199 No Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran