The effect of calligraphy/calligraphy practice on the anxiety and depression of children who treated in child and adolescent psychiatry clinic

Aim: The research was conducted to determine the effect of calligraphy/calligraphy practice on the levels of anxiety and depression in children and adolescent psychiatric clinics. Material and Method: The study was conducted as an experimental study in pre-test and post-test control groups in the child and adolescent psychiatry clinics belong to one in the Ministry of Health and the other in the university hospital in the Eastern Anatolia region, between October 2017 and June 2018. The sample of the study consisted of 84 children aged 14-17 years (experiment group n=42, control group n=42) who were treated in child and adolescent psychiatry clinics. Children and adolescents in the experiment group were given calligraphy/calligraphy practice for 3 weeks. In gathering the data; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were used. Results: It was determined that the average age of the children was 15.96 and 66.5 % had anxiety disorder. The difference in the pre-test scores of the children in the State Anxiety Inventory experiment and control groups was not significant (p=.28) but the difference was statistically significant in the comparison of the post-test score averages (p=.03). There was not significant difference between the experiment and control groups in terms of the children's Trait Anxiety Inventory pre-test score averages (p=.89) but the difference between the post-test averages was significant (p=.04). When the mean pre-test score of the Depression Inventory of the children in the experiment and control groups was compared, the difference was not significant (p=.62) but the difference was significant in the post-test comparison (p=.01). Conclusion: Calligraphy/calligraphy practice was found to be effective in decreasing state anxiety, trait anxiety and depression levels in children. Key words: Child, depression, adolescent, calligraphy, nurse, calligraphy practice, anxiety.