Effects of Food Art Therapy on the Self-Esteem, Self-Expression, and Social Skills of Persons with Mental Illness in Community Rehabilitation Facilities

Abstract

Persons with mental illness often have low self-esteem, a lack of self-expression, and poor social skills. This study used a quasi-experimental two-group pre-test-post-test design to investigate the effects of food art therapy on the self-esteem, self-expression, and social skills of persons with mental illness attending community rehabilitation facilities. The authors recruited persons with mental illness aged 18 years or older attending three community rehabilitation facilities. Participants in two rehabilitation facilities participated in food art therapy (experimental groups 1 and 2; n = 15 for each group), and participants in the third rehabilitation facility participated in regular programs of the facility (control group, n = 30). Participants in the experimental groups attended a total of eight sessions of food art therapy twice per week for four weeks. The Korean versions of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, self-expression scale, and social skill rating system were administered at pre- and post-test in both the experimental and control groups. The self-esteem, self-expression, and social skills of the experimental group improved significantly compared to the control group. The findings suggested that food art therapy would be an excellent psychosocial intervention to help persons with mental illness to rehabilitate in the community.

Exploring Association Between Social Media Addiction, Fear of Missing Out, and Self-Presentation Online Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

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The efficacy of homestyle rehabilitation on negative symptoms in chronic schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial

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Effects of a multimodal approach to food art therapy on people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia

“…In this study, self-expression (immediately, 1-month follow-up) and self-efficacy (1-month followup) were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. Because FAT activities are mainly related to expressing one's inner world and the main goal of these activities is to improve selfefficacy, 18 most studies have shown positive results for self-expression 23,[56][57][58] and self-efficacy, 20,57,59 regardless of age and health status. In this study, an analysis of participants' experiences also confirmed that they had enhanced their expression skills and gained a sense of confidence by endeavouring to complete challenging artworks continuously.…”

“…60 A study in which eight sessions of FAT over 1 month were conducted to rehabilitate persons with mental illness revealed an improvement in self-esteem immediately after the intervention. 58 Furthermore, Seifert et al 61 found that art-based therapy enables people with dementia to enhance their self-esteem. Another study that conducted creative art therapy involving diverse forms of artistic expression showed that it had positive effects on the self-esteem of elders with MCI.…”

“…This concurs with findings that a sense of self‐efficacy has the effect of improving self‐esteem in elders 60 . A study in which eight sessions of FAT over 1 month were conducted to rehabilitate persons with mental illness revealed an improvement in self‐esteem immediately after the intervention 58 . Furthermore, Seifert et al 61 .…”