Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology

V. A. Poznysh, V. Yu. Vdovenko, I. E. Kolpakov, E. I. Stepanova

State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine», 53 Yuriia Illienka St., Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine

APPLICATION OF ART THERAPY FOR CORRECTION OF PERSONAL DISORDERS OF PSYCHOEMOTIONAL STATE OF CHILDREN – INHABITANTS OF RADIATION POLLUTED TERRITORIES AND CHILDREN DISPLACED FROM THE ARMED CONFLICT ON THE SOUTHERN EAST OF UKRAINE

Objective. to identify the psycho-emotional state of children – residents of radioactively contaminated territories and children displaced from the zone of armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine, and evaluate the effectiveness of art therapy application to correct its disturbances.
Materials and methods. The psycho-emotional state was determined in 113 children, of which 57 children from radioactively contaminated territories with 137Cs content in the body from 269 Bq to 7024 Bq (group I) and 56 children displaced from the zone of military conflict in the Southeast of Ukraine (group II). The age of children ranged from 10 to 17 years. The children were hospitalized to the childrens’ clinics of the NRCRM because of functional disorders and chronic somatic pathology. The psycho-emotional state of children was evaluated using the «non-existent animal» test. It was analyzed for three symptoms – anxiety, aggressiveness and neuropsychiatric exhaustion and was evaluated by scoring points. Correction of the psychoemotional condition was carried out by the method of art therapy in the form of a serial drawing. Psychological testing was performed twice: at admission to the hospital and after the end of the art therapy.
Results. The results of the primary examination of the psycho-emotional state of children by the «non-existent animal» test showed that in children – residents of radioactively contaminated territories the state of anxiety was registered in all 57 children (100 %), the state of aggression – in 38 children (66.7%); exhaustion – in 37 children (64.9 %). In children who have been displaced from the zone of armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine, the state of anxiety was also registered in all 56 children (100 %), the status of aggression was determined in 53 children (94.6 %), and the state of exhaustion – in 44 children (78.6 %). It was established that in children displaced from the combat zone in the Southeast of Ukraine, the quantitative indices of anxiety and aggression states were significantly higher than in children living in radioactively contaminated territories (p < 0.001), whereas nor by frequency, nor by the degree of severity of exhaustion state they did not clearly differ (p > 0.05). Correlation analysis with the definition of Spearman’s criterion did not reveal likely association between the content of 137Cs in the body of children – residents of radioactively contaminated territories and the peculiarities of their psycho-emotional state.
Conclusions. The use of the art therapy method in the form of a serial drawing for children – residents of radioactively contaminated territories and children moved from the combat zone in the south-east of Ukraine, led to a significant positive effect, which was characterized by a decrease in the manifestations of symptoms of anxiety and aggressiveness. The state of exhaustion was less well corrected and its indices only had a tendency to improve. Thus, the method of art therapy in the form of a serial drawing is characterized by efficiency, simplicity of execution, low cost, it can be widely used in children’s teams to correct disorders of the psycho-emotional state.
Key words: children, Chornobyl catastrophe, armed conflict, psycho-emotional state, art therapy.

Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology.
2019;24:439-448. doi: 10.33145/2304-8336-2019-24-439-448

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