Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the effects of short-term group art therapy on self-esteem in chronic schizophrenic inpatients. Method: The design of this study was a one-group pretest-posttest design. The subjects consisted of 7 in the experimental group. The short-term group art therapy was performed for 1 hour, four times a week for 3 weeks. Data were analyzed by the SPSS(ver.10.0) computer program, and it included Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Results: There was significant difference in total self-esteem score in the experimental group(z=-2.120, p<.05). Conclusion: The current clinical situation can be frustrating if one maintains a long-term treatment frame of mind. Future research should examine self-esteem among psychiatric inpatients in relation to their varied levels of functioning, motivation, and diagnoses. A contribution of the current study is to provide future directions for short-term interventions. The findings suggest that self-esteem enhancement strategies should be considered integrated program involving cognitive and affective characteristics.
Key Words: Short-term group art therapy, Self-esteem, Chronic Schizophrenic Inpatients