Effects of Image-Sandplay Therapy on the Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being of Children with Autism

BACKGROUND: Autism significantly affects mental health and lowers subjective well-being (SWB). The rehabilitation therapy of autism is attracting widespread attention. We aimed to explore the effects of image-sandplay therapy on the mental health and SWB of children with autism. METHODS: A total of 90 children with autism treated in Changchun Women and Children Health Hospital from Jan 2019 to Jun 2020 were enrolled by convenient sampling method. They were randomly divided into control (n=45) and observation (n=45) groups. The observation group had a 12-week image-sandplay therapy based on conventional rehabilitation therapy. In the image-sandplay therapy, the one-to-one intervention was provided once a week, 60 min in each. Autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC), autism behavior checklist (ABC), Conners parent symptom questionnaire (PSQ), satisfaction with life scale (SWLS), and positive and negative affect scale for children (PANAS-C) of the two groups were assessed. RESULTS: After intervention, the observation group showed lower scores in ATEC scale and ABC scale than the control group, and the difference show statistical significance (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the observation group showed significantly lower scores in PSQ scale than the control group, showing a significant difference (P<0.05). The observation group shows higher scores in SWLS scale and positive affect scores than the control group, as well as significantly lower negative affected scores than the control groups, showing a significant difference (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Image-sandplay therapy can improve the symptoms of children with autism and is conducive to promoting mental health and increasing SWB. It is a feasible and effective rehabilitation method.