Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters reports that over twenty million people in the United States have been affected by natural disasters in the last decade (CRED, 2012). After a natural disaster, children who are directly or indirectly affected may exhibit a number of intense emotional reactions. Physical activity has been recommended as one strategy for reducing stress in children dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event. Another strategy, namely art therapy, has been effective in improving emotion functioning in children suffering from high stress, diminishing anxiety and providing alternative means of expressing emotions following traumatic events. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an afterschool physical activity program in reducing stress and teaching coping strategies following a natural disaster.
Method:
Forty elementary school students participated in an eight week after-school program consisting of 16 one-hour sessions. Each session included the initial period of physical activity (20 min.) followed by drawing or group sharing session (20 min.) and twenty more minutes of physical activity. Data were collected through drawings (7 per child), student narrations that accompanied drawings (280), and group sharing sessions (5). The use of drawings with subsequent interviews allowed us to engage students in meaningful expressions of feelings and emotions that were otherwise not accessible.
Analysis/Results:
Coding system was developed to analyze drawings and to dissect components of the drawing separately. Narratives accompanying drawings were analyzed concurrently with visual representations while interview data were analyzed thematically. The key findings were: critical importance of a “safe place” during and after the disaster, immediate and long-term concerns for family, ability to learn and use stress relieving techniques, using physical activity as a “bridge” between emotions, and feeling emotionally prepared for future stressors.
Conclusions:
The results of this study provided empirical support for the use of physical activity combined with art therapy for elementary school children following a disaster. While previous research examined these two constructs independently, this study demonstrated the possibilities of the use of drawings as an evaluative and therapeutic tool and the significance of bridging developmentally appropriate physical activity with art therapy techniques. Furthermore, this study supported previous research on the effectiveness of art therapy as a beneficial combatant of stress following a natural disaster. The infusion of art therapy permutated physical activity setting and allowed the creation of a safe environment necessary to reduce stress in elementary aged children.