The effect of exchanging drawings with peers on the happiness of children with cancer, aged 7–11 years: A clinical trial

Abstract

Introduction Improving the mental status of children with cancer is part of nurses’ duties in planning nursing care and is achieved in different ways. This study attempts to combine drawing with peer interaction to improve the mental status of sick children and investigate the effect of exchanging drawings with peers on these children’s happiness. Method This clinical trial was conducted on a sample of 66 children with cancer, ages 7–11 years, who were randomly assigned to two groups. The intervention was carried out over five weeks by the exchange of drawings between healthy children at school and children with cancer. Both groups of children drew one drawing each week. The children’s happiness was measured by the researcher before and after the intervention (i.e., week five) using a questionnaire. Results The results showed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of happiness after the intervention. The happiness score was 3.15 ±0.34 in the control group and 3.02 ±0.3 in the intervention group before the intervention; afterwards, this score was 3.022± 0.22 among the controls and 3.11± 0.25 among the patients. The comparison of the two groups using the t-test showed P = 0.075 before the intervention and P = 0.11 after the intervention. Conclusion Given the results obtained, future studies are recommended to administer lengthier interventions and enable the physical presence of healthy peers along sick children or to use the exchange of drawings with peers in combination with other psychological interventions so as to promote happiness in children with cancer.

The physical and psychological outcomes of art therapy in pediatric palliative care: A systematic review

“…The sample size in these studies varied between 5 and 83 children in each study; in one study alone, the sample size was 5 children (on the drawing),[ 25 ] in one study, the sample size was 16 children (music therapy),[ 26 ] but the sample size in 11 studies was between 20 and 60 people,[ 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 ] and the sample size was more than 60 people in four studies. [ 38 39 40 41 ]…”

“…The age of participants in this study ranged from 0 to 17 years; the majority of studies were between 7 and 18 years old ( n = 10),[ 25 27 28 29 30 33 34 37 40 41 ] in three studies, the age of participants was 0 to 18 years,[ 35 36 38 ] and in four studies, the age of participants was between 2 and 17 years. [ 26 31 32 39 ]…”

“…In this review, 12 studies were performed randomized clinical trial (RCT)[ 26 28 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 40 41 ] and 5 studies were performed without a control group and as a comparison before and after a group,[ 25 29 30 32 38 ] of which one study in painting,[ 29 ] one study in rhythmic movements,[ 30 ] and two studies in music therapy,[ 32 38 ] and one study was a combination of painting and music. [ 25 ]…”

“…[ 27 28 33 41 ] In the study of Palvan et al (2021), children in the intervention group drew in response to the drawings they received from their healthy peers, but in the control group, children did not receive drawings from their healthy peers. [ 40 ]…”

“…blinded the participants. [ 40 ] The random allocation method has been clearly stated in Nguyen et al .,[ 34 ] Robb et al . (2008)[ 39 ], Robb et al .…”