The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Art therapy on happiness of children by conducting art therapy which was focused on positive and negative emotional expressions.
In order to carry out this study, the subjects were to be 42 childr...
The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Art therapy on happiness of children by conducting art therapy which was focused on positive and negative emotional expressions.
In order to carry out this study, the subjects were to be 42 children who were situated in the fourth, fifth or sixth grade; 21 to be in the experimental group and the other 21 to be in the control group. The therapy was taken through 14 sessions based on positive and negative emotions in expression.
The main measurement methods of this study were Intensity of emotional experience and the Test on the child's happiness, and the additional method which let the children draw with freedom was also applied. Every method was used in pre/post tests to compare and assess the changes discovered before and after the therapy.
To detect the effects of Art therapy on children's happiness, the mean and the standard deviation of the pre/post tests were calculated. Then, Independent sample T-test and Paired sample T-test were applied in order to find out whether there had been any statistically significant change.
The results of this study in brief are as follows. Firstly, the Art therapy focused on positive and negative emotions in expression had showed no meaningful change. Secondly, experimental and control groups had gained a positive effect after this therapy since overall happiness in the statistics improved. In particular, there was a statistically meaningful change and thus a positive effect in self-characteristics and interpersonal relations among four subordinate elements of happiness. On the other hand, there was no change discovered in home environments and abilities, the remaining subordinate elements. Thirdly, there was another positive change in the pre/post tests of free drawings. Accordingly, after the therapy children tended to draw more colorful and bigger pictures than before. This meant that children became to show more confident expressions as they solved their difficulties in self-expression and went through favorable interactions through this art therapy.
To sum up these results of the study, the children who experienced the art therapy focused on positive and negative emotional expressions gained more happiness and satisfaction in their lives overall. Likewise, some could make improvements on self-characteristics and their interpersonal relations.