Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0665
ISSN: 2161-0665
Nafiseh Zarei
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Pediatr Ther
Immunodeficiency disorders are chronic diseases diagnosed in early childhood, and lead to anxiety, and spiritual tensions. These feelings should be particularly addressed in school-age, which the children’s cognitive, mental and spiritual dimensions are being shaped. Spirituality may help children cope with their chronic disease, and stressful situations. Prayer is a kind of spiritual care that is popular among school-aged children and painting is the most forms of expressing feelings in children. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of prayer painting on anxiety and spiritual life in school-aged children. This experimental research recruited children (33samples) with immunodeficiency diseases, who were hospitalized at the Children’s Medical Center. Data were collected through the Children’s Spirituality Lives(CSL) and the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale which were filled before, 1week after and 1month after the intervention. Samples were asked to paint their prayers to God over 6sessions. The CSL were completed immediately after the painting sessions in the hospital and again 1month later by phone-conversations with the children. The CSL’s reliability was assessed on 30children and confirmed through Cronbach’s-alpha of 0.94. Data were analyzed in SPSS-25 using descriptive statistics and Freedman’s and Wilcoxon tests. Mean score for CSL was 105.85±8.6 before-intervention, 108.45±10.22 1week-after and 107±8.2 1month-after-intervention. Anxiety was 10.24±6.33, 7.76±5.36, and 6.52±4.88 respectively (P<0.001). The results showed that prayer painting affects spiritual life of children. Children usually do things that bring them closer to God, and that prayer is their first resort whenever they feel uncomfortable. The use of arts, such as painting, is a resource that can help healthcare providers express spiritual issues. The prayer painting intervention showed that children are able to paint their prayers and express their feelings. They also gain a sense of comfort and support from God by thinking about Him and talking to Him through painting.
Nafiseh Zarei was graduated in Pediatric Nursing at school of Nursing and Midwifery, and she is a researcher at Nursing & Midwifery Care Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.