Owing to difficulty in self-accommodation, self-expression and self-opening caused by self-defense for handicapped children, their mothers usually suffer parenting stress which is much higher than that of normal children's mothers. Thus, this research...
Owing to difficulty in self-accommodation, self-expression and self-opening caused by self-defense for handicapped children, their mothers usually suffer parenting stress which is much higher than that of normal children's mothers. Thus, this research investigated the influence that group art therapy has on the parenting stress of handicapped children's mothers.
For this study, the mothers who got marks over 90 points in the parenting stress test among the handicapped children's mothers who use treatment room of D welfare hall in P area are divided into experimental group and controlled group, each of which is composed of 10 mothers. For experimental group, group art therapy program was enforced in 1 time a week (120-150 minutes a time) from September 2008 to October 2008, totalling 16 sessions.
For study tool, parenting stress scale (PSI/SF: Parenting Stress Index/Short Form) developed by Abidin(1983) and used by Seo Hye Young(1991) and 'Person in the Rain'test developed and improved by Anold Abrams & Abraham Amchin(Hammer, 1958a, 1967b) were enforced and marked for use. With respect to analysis of materials, SPSS for windows Ver. 14 was used for statistical treatment. The average and standard deviation of marks of each pre and post inspection for each group was calculated and repetitious measurement ANOVA was performed to investigate the effect of group art therapy program.
The result of this study is as follows.
First, group art therapy reduces the parenting stress of handicapped children's mothers.
Second, group art therapy reduces the lower area (parental distress, parent-child disfunctional interaction, difficult child) of fostering stress of handicapped children's mother.
Third, group art therapy reduces the stress in the 'Person in the Rain' test of handicapped children's mother.
Thus, it is judged that group art therapy in this study considerably changes overall stress level through total parenting stress, parenting stress in lower areas of 'Person in the Rain' test of handicapped children's mother, thereby positively affecting the reduction of parenting stress of handicapped children's mothers.