“A window of looking at the good, bad, and the stress:” A mixed-methods art therapy study with hospitalized adult burn patients

Background Improving psychosocial functioning in hospitalized burn survivors involves minimizing distress and pain and fostering emotion regulation. Art therapy could uniquely address the non-verbal aspects of distressing experiences, facilitating healthy emotional expression. Method This small N mixed-methods study examined the effect of 4-session art therapy intervention among 12 adult hospitalized burn patients on psychosocial outcomes of distress (Distress thermometer), affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), change-perception (Patient Global Impression of Change), pain (Graphic Numeric Rating Scale), and self-expression and regulation (Self-Expression and Emotion Regulation in Art Therapy Scale, SERATS). Results Quantitative results using repeated ANOVA showed significant improvements in distress (F[1,9]=6.84, p = .028), positive affect (F[1,8]=5.5, p = 0.047), negative affect (F[1,8]=8.12, p = .022), and pain (F[1,9]=13.22, p = .005) across the four sessions. The global percentage change indicated positive trends in the outcomes. Changes did not reach statistical significance within-sessions. One-sample t-test showed a significant improvement in patients’ impression of change (t[10]=−4.183, two-sided p = .002) with mean responses approaching ‘much improved.’ Patients perceived art therapy as fostering emotional expression and regulation ‘often’ indicated by mean response scores approaching “4” for each item on SERATS. Thematic analysis elaborated on symptom management, expanded expression and perspective with art serving as tangible reminders, and creative engagement across sessions and with varied art media. Mixed-methods integration demonstrated congruent findings across art therapy sessions. Conclusion Art therapy can be a viable intervention to boost psychosocial health in hospitalized burn patients.