The Effect of Group Painting Therapy on Loneliness, Control of Anger, and Social Adjustment of Primary School Students

Background and Purpose: The incidence of maladaptive behaviors among children is increasing; hence identification of factors effective in reducing these behaviors seems necessary. However, systematic studies on the effectiveness of painting therapy in reducing the psychological and behavioral problems of students have not been done. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group therapy on loneliness, control of anger, and adjustment among primary school students. Method: It was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of 40 female primary students of grade 3 in Khoramabad in 2016-2017, who were selected by convenience sampling and then randomly divided into the experimental group and control group. The instruments used in the present study included Loneliness Scale (Asher & Wheeler, 1985), Adjustment Scale (Dokhanchi, 1998), and Novaco Anger Scale (1986). The pretest was administrated to both the experimental and control group. The experimental group received ten 60-minute sessions of group painting therapy. Upon the end of the intervention, both groups were administrated the posttest.  Results: Results obtained by the analysis of covariance showed that by controlling the pre-test scores, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of loneliness (F=24.3, P<0.001) and adjustment (F=19.8, P<0.001) at the post-test stage. Also, other findings showed that by controlling the pre-test scores, a significant difference was seen between the control group and experimental group in terms of anger control at the post-test stage (F=0.36, P<0.55). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that painting is a tool to express the inner emotions and plays a significant role in identifying the child's intelligence and affection. The results emphasize on the importance of paining therapy for the reduction of loneliness and increase of social adjustment of the students and can be used as an efficient method.