Effects of Expressive Art Therapy Applied to Earthquake Victims Who Have Experienced Loss

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Expressive Art Therapy: As a strategy for coping with trauma, art production creates therapeutic effects on the individual with its sensory and physical aspects (Chapman, 2013; King-West and Hass-Cohen, 2008). When verbal expression is insufficient or carries the risk of re-traumatization, expressive art therapy offers a safe space through non-verbal expression (Talwar, 2007). It is stated that art production is effective in repairing self-integrity ruptures that occur in traumatic experiences (Harris, 2009). Through creative processes, the individual can restructure both internally and externally. Expressive art therapy, especially when applied in a group environment, creates a psychotherapeutic effect by providing participants with the opportunity to express their emotions, imagination and unconscious processes (Malchiodi, 2012; Kim et al., 2021). The commitment and reflective understanding that occur in group psychotherapy are among the factors that give hope and strength (Robb, 2017).

Study summary

Earthquakes can negatively affect individuals' mental health by creating serious traumatic effects on individual and societal levels. Traumatic experiences such as losing one's home or workplace, being injured, or losing a loved one cause individuals to develop long-term psychological symptoms. In this context, strengthening psychosocial support programs aimed at coping with psychological and social problems after an earthquake is of great importance. In this study, the effect of expressive art therapy applied to individuals who experienced losses due to the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on psychological symptoms and post-traumatic growth was examined.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) — Change from baseline to 6 weeks (also assessed at 14 weeks post-baseline)
  It is a 53-item symptom screening scale developed by Derogatis. The scale consists of 9 subscales and 3 global indexes. The 9 subscales of the scale are, respectively, Somatization (S) (items 2, 7, 23, 29, 30, 33, 37), Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (items 5, 15, 26, 27, 32, 36), Interpersonal sensitivity (IS) (items 20, 21, 22, 42), Depression (D) (items 9, 16, 17, 18, 35, 50), Anxiety disorder (AD) (items 1, 12, 19, 38, 45, 49), Hostility (H) (items 6, 13, 40, 41, 46), Phobic anxiety (PA) (items 8, 28, 31, 43, 47), Paranoid ideation (PD) (items 4, 10, 24, 48, 51) and Psychoticism (P) (items 3, 14, 34, 44, 53). Additional items (EM) (items 11, 25, 39, 52) include items related to eating and drinking disorders, sleep disorders, death and thoughts about death, and feelings of guilt. The global indices are the Disorder Severity Index, the Symptom Total Index, and the Symptom Disorder Index, respectively.
• Post-Traumatic Growth Scale (PTGS) — Change from baseline to 6 weeks (also assessed at 14 weeks post-baseline)
  The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory was developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) to measure the development that occurs in individuals after trauma. The scale consists of 21 items and the items are scored on a 6-point scale from 0 to 5. The scores obtained from the scale vary between 0 and 105, and a high score indicates that the person has experienced a positive change, that is, growth, after the trauma. Factor analysis determined that the scale has 5 sub-dimensions (positive change in interpersonal relationships, awareness of new opportunities, understanding the value of life, increasing personal resilience, and strengthening spirituality). The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was reported as .93 (Kağan et al., 2012).

Trial sites (1)