Glover, Eleanor (2011) Evaluation of a Narrative Therapy Program: Functioning and Well-Being Among Regional Australian Primary School Students. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate if there were improvements in child functioning and well-being after participation in the Tree of Life program. The Tree of Life program is a program developed on the foundations of narrative therapy and was originally used in the care and support of children affected by HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa. The current study accessed the archival data of 60 participants, all primary school children aged between 7 and 12 years old enrolled in a regional Australian primary school who participated in the Tree of Life program. All participants voluntarily completed a self-report questionnaire measuring individual, family, school and overall functioning in addition to their school teachers completing informant-rated questionnaires measuring the behavioural strengths and difficulties of each of the children. All questionnaires were completed prior to participation in the program and again one month after the completion of the program. The informant rated questionnaires completed by the school teachers were not available for the current study. Therefore the study continued using only the self-report questionnaires completed by the participating students. There were no significant differences found between Time 1 and Time 2 in the individual, family, school or overall functioning scales (Individual, t (42) = -.94, p = .35; Family, t (42) = -1.08, p = .285; School, t (42) = -1.23, p = .225; Overall, t (42) = -.34, p = .733). This was an unexpected finding based on the emerging body of research into the efficacy and broad applicability of narrative therapy. The non-significant result may reflect issues with the use of self-report with children, specifically the importance of cognitive and emotional development and how it affects self-report. Therefore further analysis was conducted looking at whether there were improvements in child functioning and well-being after participation in the Tree of Life Program among different age groups. Age was divided into two groups; under 10 and 10 and above age groups. There were no significant differences found between Time 1 and Time 2 in the individual, family, school or overall functioning scales for the under 10 age group (Individual, Z = 1.04, p = .297; Family, Z = -.54, p = .593; School, Z = -.66, p = .507; Overall, Z = -.26, p = .798). There were also no significant differences found between Time 1 and Time 2 in the individual, family, school or overall functioning scales for the 10 and above age group (Individual, Z = -.85, p = .393; Family, Z = -1.27, p = .203; School, Z = -1.47, p = .142; Overall, Z = -.16, p = .875). This was an unexpected finding due to the adjustments that had been made to control for potential issues in the use of self-report with younger children. These unexpected findings could be related to the research design of the current study. That is the methods and materials used for assessing child functioning and wellbeing in addition to no follow up assessments post intervention. Research into the assessment of child behavioural and emotional difficulties has highlighted the need to utilise multiple sources and methods to obtain a complete and comprehensive understanding of the child. Additionally current research practices within psychology include a number of follow up assessments post intervention to understand the potential longer-term impact of participation in intervention. Future evaluations should make such improvements to the research designs to give evaluators greater capacity to find significant results.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Gavin Beccaria |
| Qualification: | Master of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2025 00:27 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2025 00:27 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52352 |
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