The effect of songwriting on chronically ill asthmatic children and their main caregivers

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of song writing versus no song writing on three family interaction variables (i.e. cohesion, expressiveness, independence). Nineteen chronically ill asthmatic children between five and twelve years of age and their mothers were randomly divided into the control (N = 10), no song writing, and experimental (N = 9), song writing, groups. Both groups received pre and post testing over a 30-day period. Experimental subjects received six intervening therapeutic song writing sessions. The dependent variables were the Family Environment Scale and the Children's Version of the Family Environment Scale. Six seperate one-way analyses of covariance were performed. Significant differences between the control and experimental group mothers' perceptions of family cohesion and expressiveness were found. The experimental group mothers' scores were lower on these two variables. Therapeutically, the song writing treatment produced an instability within the family. No significant differences were found with the remaining variables.

Keyword(s): Asthma, children, chronic-illnesses, songwriting, caregivers, family-environment-scale.

Zurück | Weiter