Studyingthe Effectiveness of the FRIENDS Program Training on Promoting Social Skills of Children in Shiraz City

One of the important achievements of the childhood is achieving social skills that can be promoted by on time training . This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of FRIENDS training programs on children's social skills in Shiraz . Research method is apre-test and post-test quasi-experimental and follow-up with the control group. The statistical population included all 9 to 11 years old male and female children in Shiraz elementary schools in the academic year 2014-15 that among them, 20 students were selected by multistage random cluster sampling method by using the social norms Gresham Elliott teachers form and were randomly divided into two test groups (n = 10) and control group (n = 10). The test group had been trained for 3 months and the control group did not receive any interference; after the end of the program, the test was taken and the follow-up stage was conducted one month after intervention.Dataanalysis was performed based on multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that FRIENDS program has significantly increased children's social skills and the process had remained stable until follow-up phase . FRIENDS program can be considered as a preventive intervention in the promotion of children's social skills .

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