A year after the earthquake in Sichuan, China, a strength-based arts and play support program was launched to promote the well-being of young survivors, and this study was designed to examine its effectiveness. It was hypothesized that participation in the program would have direct positive effects on general self-efficacy and peer support, and that these would mediate the effect of the program on anxiety. One hundred twelve Grade 4 students joined the study, the measures of which included the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Classmate Support Scale, and the Generalized Anxiety subscale in the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale. The results showed that participation in the program was associated with increased general self-efficacy and peer support, which lowered anxiety, although the relationship was not statistically significant. This study has provided insights for the development of a culturally sound arts and play program for young disaster victims in China.
BaggerlyJ.ExumH. A. (2008). Counseling children after natural disasters: Guidance for family therapists. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 36, 79-93. doi:10.1080/01926180601057598
2.
BanduraA. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.
3.
BanduraA. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
4.
BenightC. C.BanduraA. (2004). Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1129-1148. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2003.08.008
5.
BenightC. C.SwiftE.SangerJ.SmithA.ZeppelinD. (1999). Coping self-efficacy as a mediator of distress following a natural disaster. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29, 2443-2464.
6.
BrattonS. C.RayD.RhineT.JonesL. (2005). The efficacy of play therapy with children: A meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 376-390. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.36.4.376
7.
ChanC. L. W.ChanT. H. Y.NgS. M. (2006). The strength-focused and meaning-oriented approach to resilience and transformation (SMART): A body-mind spirit approach to trauma management. Social Work in Health Care, 43(2-3), 9-36.
8.
CohenS.WillsT. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310-357. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
9.
CryderC. H.KilmerR. P.TedeschiR. G.CalhounL. G. (2006). An exploratory study of posttraumatic growth in children following a natural disaster. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 65-69. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.76.1.65
10.
DorinsonP. M. (2011). The role of social support on the mental health status of adolescents exposed to traumatic events on September 11 (Fordham University, New York). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I database. (PhD 3465663). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/883391954?accountid=14548.
11.
EatonL. G.DohertyK. L.WidrickR. M. (2007). A review of research and methods used to establish art therapy as an effective treatment method for traumatized children. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 34, 256-262. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.03.001
12.
GoodmanR. F.ChapmanL. M.GanttL. (2009). Creative arts therapies for children. In FoaE.KeaneT.FriedmanM.CohenJ. (Eds.), Effective treatment for PTSD: Practice guidelines from the International Society for Trauma Stress Studies (pp. 491-507). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
13.
HarperF. D.HarperJ. A.StillsA. B. (2003). Counseling children in crisis based on Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 25, 10-25.
14.
HoR. T. H. (2005). Regaining balance within: Dance movement therapy with Chinese cancer patients in Hong Kong. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 27, 87-99.
15.
HoR. T. H.FanF.LaiA. H. Y.LoP. H. Y.PotashJ. S.KalamanowitzD. L.. . . ChanC. L. W. (2012). An expressive arts-based and strength-focused experiential training program for enhancing the efficacy of teachers affected by earthquake in China. Creative Education, 3, 67-74. doi:10.4236/ce.2012.31011
16.
JaycoxL. H.CohenJ. A.MannarinoA. P.WalkerD. W.LangleyA. K.GegenheimerK. L.. . . SchonlauM. (2010). Children’s mental health care following hurricane Katrina: A field trial of trauma-focused psychotherapies. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 223-231. doi:10.1002/its.20518
17.
KarademasE. C. (2006). Self-efficacy, social support and well-being: The mediating role of optimism. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1281-1290. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.10.019
18.
KimJ. B.KirchhoffM.WhitsettS. (2011). Expressive arts group therapy with middle-school aged children from military families. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38, 356-362. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2011.08.003
19.
LiebermanL. D.BerlinC.PalenL.AshleyO. S. (2012). A theater-based approach to primary prevention of sexual behavior for early adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32, 730-753. doi:10.1177/0272431611424726
20.
LiuK.LiangX.GuoL.LiY.LiX.XinB.. . . LiY. (2010). Acute stress disorder in the paediatric surgical children and adolescents injured during the Wenchuan earthquake in China. Stress & Health, 26, 262-268. doi:10.1002/smi.1288
21.
LiuM.WangL.ShiZ.ZhangZ.ZhangK.ShenJ. (2011). Mental health problems among children one-year after Sichuan earthquake in China: A follow-up study. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e14706. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014706
22.
MacCallumR. C.BrowneM. W.SugawaraH. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1, 130-149.
23.
MalchiodiC. (2008). Creative interventions with traumatized children. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
24.
MalchiodiC. (2011). Trauma informed art therapy with sexually abused children. In Goodyear-BrownP. (Ed.), Handbook of child sexual abuse: Prevention, assessment, and treatment (pp.341-354). New York, NY: Wiley.
25.
MargolinG.RamosM. C.GuranE. L. (2010). Earthquakes and children: The role of psychologists with families and communities. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 1-9. doi:10.1037/a0018103
26.
MastenA. S.ObradovićJ. (2008). Disaster preparation and recovery: Lessons from research on resilience in human development. Ecology & Society, 13(1), 9.
27.
MurphyS. A. (1987). Self-efficacy and social support: Mediators of stress on mental health following a natural disaster. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 9, 58-86.
OrrP. P. (2007). Art therapy with children after a disaster: A content analysis. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 34, 350-361. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.07.002
30.
PiagetJ. (1977). The development of thought: Equilibration of cognitive structures. New York: Viking Press.
31.
PineD. S.CohenP.GurleyD.BrookJ.MaY. (1998). The risk for early-adulthood anxiety and depressive disorders in adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 56-64. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.1.56
32.
RolfsnesE. S.IdsoeT. (2011). School-based intervention programs for PTSD symptoms: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24, 155-165. doi:10.1002/jts.20622
33.
SchlomerG.BaumanS.CardN. (2010). Best practices for missing data management in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 1-10.
SpenceS. H.BarrettP. M.TurnerC. M. (2003). Psychometric properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale with young adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 17, 605-625. doi:10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00236-0
36.
TangC. S. (2007). Assessment of PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity in contemporary Chinese societies. In TangC. S. (Ed.), Cross-cultural assessment of psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 135-168). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-70990-1_7
37.
TorsheimT.WoldB.SamdalO. (2000). The Teacher and Classmate Support Scale: Factor structure, test-retest reliability and validity in samples of 13- and 15-year-old adolescents. School Psychology International, 21, 195-212.
38.
Uscher-PinesL. (2009). Health effects of relocation following disaster: A systematic review of the literature. Disasters, 33, 1-22. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.2008.01059.x
39.
Wallace-DiGarboA.LancasterP. A.HillD. C. (2006). Art as agency: Exploring empowerment of at-risk youth. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 23, 119-125.
40.
WolmerL.LaorN.DedeogluC.SievJ.YazganY. (2005). Teacher-mediated intervention after disaster: A controlled three-year follow-up of children’s functioning. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1161-1168.
41.
YangJ.YangY.LiuX.TianJ.ZhuX.MiaoD. (2010). Self-efficacy, social support, and coping strategies of adolescent earthquake survivors in China. Social Behavior and Personality, 38, 1219-1228. doi:10.2224/sbp.2010.38.9.1219
42.
YuX.-N.LauJ. T. F.ZhangJ.MakW. W. S.ChoiK. C.LuiW. W. S.. . . ChanE. Y. Y. (2010). Posttraumatic growth and reduced suicidal ideation among adolescents at month 1 after the Sichuan earthquake. Journal of Affective Disorders, 123, 327-331. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2009.09.019
43.
ZengE. J.Bordeaux SilversteinL. (2011). China earthquake relief: Participatory action work with children. School Psychology International, 32, 498-511. doi:10.1177/0143034311402921
44.
ZhangJ. X.SchwarzerR. (1995). Measuring optimistic self-beliefs: A Chinese adaptation of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Psychologia, 38, 174-181.
45.
ZhangY.KongaF.WangL.ChenaH.GaoaX.TanX.. . . LiuY. (2010). Mental health and coping styles of children and adolescent survivors one year after the 2008 Chinese earthquake. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 1403-1409. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.06.009
46.
Zomeran-DohmA.NgR.HowardK.KenneyM.RitchmeierL.GourneauJ. (2013). How trauma gets under the skin: Biological and cognitive processes of child maltreatment (Children’s Mental Health eReview). Retrieved from http://www.extension.umn.edu/family/cyfc
