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Citation
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Zhu Z, Wang R, Kao HS, Zong Y, Liu Z, Tang S, Xu M, Liu IC, Lam SP. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 2014; 10: 977-985. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: This study investigated the treatment effects of calligraphy therapy on childhood survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquakes in the People's Republic of China.
METHODS: In experiment 1, 129 children participated in a 30-day calligraphic training, and 81 children were controls. The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale was adopted to assess behavioral effects. Experiment 2 involved 41 treatment subjects and 39 controls, with the same procedure as in experiment 1 except that salivary cortisol level was also measured as a physiological indicator.
RESULTS: After 30 days of calligraphy treatment, the arousal symptoms and salivary cortisol levels in the experimental group decreased from 5.72±0.31 and 13.34±2.88 to 4.98±0.31 and 9.99±2.81, respectively. In the control group, there was not a significant decrease from pretest to post-test. In addition, the arousal scores in posttest (4.98±4.39) were significantly lower than midtest (5.71±4.14) for girls; in contrast, for boys, posttest (4.90±4.24) showed little change compared with midtest (5.04±4.36), but both were significantly lower than pretest (6.42±4.59).
CONCLUSIONS: Calligraphy therapy was effective in reducing hyperarousal symptoms among child survivors.
Language: en |