Impact of painting therapy on aggression and anxiety of children with cancer

Background: Cancer is a major source of distress such as aggression and anxiety. It becomes a traumatic and painful for both children and their family. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of painting therapy on the reduction of aggression and anxiety among hospitalized children with cancer (8-12 aged). Methods: The study was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest and treatment group. Thirty hospitalized children with cancer (8-12 aged), who obtained one score above the mean scores in Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and Children's Inventory of Anger (ChIA) were selected from Shafa Hospital in Ahvaz. Then, they were randomly divided into the control and experimental groups. The intervention group received techniques of painting therapy for 11 treatment sessions (60 minutes for each session, twice per week). Data were analyzed using covariance. Results: The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores in aggression (±SD: 60.9±13.56, 40.90±8.52; F=118.79, p<0.001) and anxiety (±SD:15.75 ± 2.97, 10.60±2.92; F=118.79, p<0.001) in experimental group. Conclusions: Findings indicated that painting therapy impacted on the reduction of the aggression and anxiety in children with cancer. Therefore, it would be considered as the therapeutic interventions for releasing the negative emotion in children with cancer