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Effects of sandplay therapy in reducing emotional and behavioural problems in school‐age children with chronic diseases: A randomized controlled trial

Authors :
Judan Tan
Huaying Yin
Tuo Meng
Xiaoli Guo
Source :
Nursing Open, Vol 8, Iss 6, Pp 3099-3110 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Wiley, 2021.

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Children with chronic diseases exhibit a higher incidence of emotional–behavioural problems. Though sandplay therapy is a universally recognized psychological treatment method, experimental evidence for this form of therapy is lacking. Our aims were to examine the effectiveness of sandplay therapy in reducing emotional and behavioural problems in school‐age children with chronic diseases as well as anxiety and depression in their caregivers. Design and methods A total of 60 children and their caregivers were enrolled in the present study between January and October 2019. A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China. Participants were divided into an intervention and a control group. Both groups received regular treatment, and the intervention group received additional sandplay therapy. Four behavioural rating scales were used to evaluate the differences between the two groups. The children's scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), Self‐Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self‐Rating Depression Scale (SDS) before and after the intervention were compared using the Mann–Whitney test. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was also employed to compare the median results before and after treatment. Results The total scores for CBCL, anxiety and depression, withdrawal, and social behavioural problems for children in the intervention group were all lower than the corresponding scores for those in the control group (p

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20541058
Volume :
8
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Nursing Open
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.19a8dca45b84e5a935a3a9e969d6690
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1022