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Venise Buenaflor, University of St. La Salle - Bacolod, PhilippinesAbstract
The study investigated the effect of Expressive Arts Therapy-based intervention (EAT-based) on the following mental health challenges: depression, aggression, trauma, and emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) of women deprived of liberty (WDL). 45 WDL aged 18 to 55 (Mean=37.3) who screened positive for depression using PHQ-9 from the pretest phase participated in this study. Using a multiple-group design with pretest and posttest, the participants were matched according to their PHQ-9 scores, age, nature of incarceration, and months of facility detention, and were randomly assigned to the performing arts group (n=15), visual arts group (n=15), and wait-list control group (n=15). Data were analyzed using paired samples t-test and One Way Anova, Tukey’s post-hoc Test, and Cohen’s d estimates of effect sizes. Findings from this study showed that joining an EAT-based intervention reduced depression (t(14)=2.59,p=.022, d=.668) and reduced aggression (t(14)= 2.39,p=0.032,d=.616), for WDL assigned to the performing arts. For the visual arts, the intervention reduced depression (t(14)=2.57,p=.022,d=.663), reduced aggression (t(14)=2.24, p=0.042, d=.579), and reduced expressive suppression (t(14)=1.03,p=.036,d=.266). Comparing the post-test scores between WDL who participated in the two treatment conditions and the wait-list control group indicated that there was a significant difference (F(2,42)= 4.44,p=.018) in the depression variable between the performing arts group and the wait-list control group, which the performing arts group has the highest efficacy. A significant difference was also found in expressive suppression (F(2,42)=6.18,p=.004) between the visual arts group compared to the performing arts and control group which suggests that visual arts has the highest efficacy.
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