Psychiatry Research EG

An environmental behavioural modification programme was implemented in Alexandria city, Egypt, in order to help street children to change their behaviour, discover their abilities and develop and acquire new skills and knowledge. The programme included camping and field trips, recreational activities and games, role play and theatre, story-telling, life-skill activities, and gardening and animal care. Data were collected from observational sheets of adaptive behaviour and conversation sessions before and after the intervention on a sample of 35 street children aged between 7 and 15 years. The mean scores for each behavioural item and all items together before and after the intervention were significantly improved in a number of areas, except for speech disorders and substance use.