Treatment of Depression in Children Through Expressive Writing Therapy

Nurul Hafizah, Indahria Sulistyarini

Abstract


Depression in children is a psychological problem that is often ignored and left untreated. This condition can have an impact on children's decreased desire to eat, loss of interest in children and cognitive impairment that can disturb the development of children. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of expressive writing therapy on reducing the intensity of depression in children. This study uses a research design, namely single-case research. The subject in this study was a 12-year-old girl who experienced symptoms of depression as measured using the Children Depression Inventory (CDI). The diagnosis was given after assessing the subject in the form of interviews, observations and comprehensive psychological tests. The researcher determines the baseline related to the subject's psychological condition in determining the intervention. The results showed that there was a decrease in the intensity of the main symptoms of depression in the subject, then there were changes in thoughts, feelings and behavior in the subject before and after the intervention of expressive writing therapy on the subject.

Depresi pada anak merupakan salah satu permasalahan psikologis yang sering diabaikan dan sering tidak diobati. Kondisi ini dapat berdampak kepada penurunan nafsu makan pada anak, kehilangan ketertarikan pada anak hingga adanya penurunan kognitif yang dapat mengganggu proses perkembangan pada anak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas terapi menulis ekspresif terhadap penurunan intensitas depresi pada anak. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain penelitian yaitu single-case research. Subjek dalam penelitian ini merupakan seorang anak perempuan berusia 12 tahun yang mengalami gejala depresi yang diukur dengan menggunakan Children Depression Inventory (CDI). Diagnosis diberikan setelah dilakukan asesmen kepada subjek berupa wawancara, observasi dan tes psikologi secara komprehensif. Peneliti menentukan baseline terkait kondisi psikologis subjek dalam menentukan intervensi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat penurunan intensitas gejala utama depresipada subjek dan terjadi perubahan secara pikiran, perasaan dan perilaku pada subjek pra serta pasca intervensi expressive writing therapy pada subjek.

Keywords


Assessment; Intervention; Methodology

Full Text:

FULL TEXT

References


Abildgaard, J. S., Saksvik, P. Ø., & Nielsen, K. (2016). How to measure the intervention process? An assessment of qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection in the process evaluation of organizational interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01380

Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2015). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing, Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11, (5), 338–346. doi: 10.1192/apt.11.5.338.

Baikie, K. A., Geerligs, L., & Wilhelm, K. (2012). Expressive writing and positive writing for participants with mood disorders: An online randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 136(3), 310-319. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.11.032

Barcaccia, B., Schaeffer, T., Balestrini, V., Rizzo, F., Mattogno, F., Baiocco, R., Mancini, F., & Schneider, B. H. (2017). Is expressive writing effective in decreasing depression and increasing forgiveness and emotional wellbeing of preadolescen. Terapia Psicologica, 35 (3), 213-222. http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=78554029001

Baum, E. S., & Rude, S. S. (2013). Acceptance-enhanced expressive writing prevents symptoms in participants with low initial depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37(1), 35-42. doi: 10.1007/s10608-012-9435-x

Charles J, Fazeli M. (2017). Depression in Children. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Vol (46) No. 12.

Children’s Commissioner. (2016). Lightning Review: Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Retrieved from https://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n2468.pdf&ver=3127

Costa, A. C., & Abreu, M. V. (2017). Expressive and Creative Writing in the Therapeutic Context: From the different concepts to the development of writing therapy program. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-8606_61-1_4

Craft, M. A., Davis, G. J., & Paulson, R. M. (2013). Expressive writing in early breast cancer survivors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69 (2), 305-315. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06008.x

Desi, D., Felita, A., & Kinasih, A. (2020). Gejala Depresi Pada Remaja Di Sekolah Menengah Atas. Care : Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Kesehatan, 8(1), 30. https://doi.org/10.33366/jc.v8i1.1144

Dewi, E. M. P., Rifdah, A., & Usrayanti. (2020). The effectiveness of expressive writing therapy in controlling emotions of adolescent inmate. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 481, 45-49.

Fartoukh, M., & Chanquoy, L. (2020). Expressive writing in school children: Effects on well-being and working memory. Journal of Writing Research, 11 (3), 505-523.

Hamby, S., Taylor, E., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2016). A naturalistic study of narrative: exploring the choice and impact of adversity versus other narrative topics. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice and policy, 8, 477–486. doi:10.1037/tra0000133

Harber, K., & Wenberg, K. (2005). Emotional disclosure and closeness toward offenders. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, 734-746. doi: 10.1177/0146167204272720

Istiqomah, Z. N., Erawati, E., & Suyanta, S. (2018). Life Writing Therapy Decreases Depression in Late Adolescence. Jurnal Ners, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.20473/jn.v13i1.4686

Jull EML, Hjemdal O, Aune T. (2021). Prevalence of depressive symptoms among older children and young adolescents: a longitudinal population-based study. Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, 9, 64-72

Khaatimah, H., & Wibawa, R. (2017). Efektivitas model pembelajaran cooperative integrated reading and composition terhadap hasil belajar. Jurnal Teknologi Pendidikan, 2 (2), 76-86.

Korczak DJ, Ofner M, LeBlanc J, Wong S, Feldman M, Parkin PC. (2017). Major depressive disorder among preadolescent Canadian children: Rare disorder or rarely detected?. Acad Pediatric, 17(2):191–97.

Krpan, K. M., Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Deldin, P. J., Askren, M. K., & Jonides, J. (2013). An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: The benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Journal Affective Disorder, 150 (3), 1148-1151. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065.

Loeys T, Rodenburg R. (2022). Dealing With Autocorrelation in the Single Case AB-Design: A Study Assessing the Mediating Effect of Infant Crying on the Relation Between Responsive Soothing and Infant Sleep.

Michiels B, Onghena P. (2019). Randomized single-case AB phase designs: Prospects and pitfalls. Behavior Research Method, 51, 2454-2476

Mukhlis, H., Kristianingsih, A., Fitrianti, F., Pribadi, T., Kumalasari, D., Febriyanti, H., & Maseleno, A. (2020). The effect of expressive writing technique to stress level decrease of new student at Al-Falah Putri Islamic Boarding School, Margodadi, Tanggamus. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 23 (6), 759-766

Munhall, P. ( 2001). Nursing research: A qualitative perspective. (3rd edition). Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publisher.

Neufeld S. A. S., Dunn V. J., Jones P. B., Croudace T. J., & Goodyer, I. M. (2017). Reduction in adolescent depression after contact with mental health services: A longitudinal cohort study in the UK. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4, 120–127.

Nurmaliza, T. H., Jati, S. N., & Trisnawati, E. (2022). Emotional experience writing to increase resilience to stress in adolescents. Gadjah Mada Journal of Professional Psychology, 8 (1), 35-45. DOI: 10.22146/gamajpp.73566

Pennebaker J. W., & Chung, C. K. (2007). Expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health. In H. Friedman and R. Silver (Ed.), Handbook of Health Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Beal, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 274-281. doi: 10.1037//0021-843X.95.3.274

Pennebaker, James W & Smyth, Joshua M. (2016). Opening Up By Writing It Down : How Expressive Writing Improves Health And Eases Emotional Pain. New York:Guilford Press.

Polanczyk, G. V., Salum, G. A., Sugaya, L. S., Caye, A., & Rohde, L. A. (2015). Annual research review : A meta-analysis of the worldwide prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 3, 345–365. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12381

Prameswari, S. L., Mareta, R., & Wardani, S. (2022). The effectiveness of expressive writing therapy in reducing anxiety in children victims of bullying at smp negeri 1 mojotengah wonosobo in 2021. Applied Sciences, 2 (1), 20-26, https://doi.org/10.53017/ujas.161

Racine, N., McArthur, B. A., Cooke, J.E., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021). Global Prevalence of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Children and Adolescents During COVID-19 A Meta-analysis. Jama pediatrics, 175 (11), 1142-1150 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2782796

Razzak, H. A., Harbi, A., Ahli, S. (2018). Depression: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors in the United Arab Emirates. Oman Medical Jurnal, 34 (4), 274-283

Robertson, S. M. C., Short, S. D., Asper, A., Venezia, K., Yetman, C., Connelly, M., & Trumbull, J. (2019). The effect of expressive writing on symptoms of depression in college students: randomized controlled trial. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38 (5), 427-450.

Rosenthal R, Rosnow RL. (2008). Essentials of Behavioral Research: Methods and Data Analysis.

Saputri, I. A., Nurrahima, A. (2020). Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi depresi anak usia sekolah : Kajian literatur. Journal of Holistic Nursing and Health Science, 3 (2), 50 – 58.

Septiana, V., Putri, Y. S. E., & Tungtrongvisolkit, N. (2022). Expressive writing therapy for a client with low self-esteem, hallucination and post-traumatic syndrome. Innovation in Health for Society, 2(1), 12–17. https://doi.org/10.31603/ihs.6717

Travagin, G., Margola, D., & Revenson, T. A. (2015). How effective are expressive writing interventions for adolescents? A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 36, 42-55. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.003

Wantini., Suyatno., & Dinni, S. M. (2022). Implementation of expressive writing therapy through writing diary coping anxiety in children victims of covid-19 (Islamic Educational Psychology Approach). Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 6 (1), 141-157. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35723/ajie.v6i1.237.

Weiss B & Garber J. (2003). Developmental differences in the phenomenology of depression. Dev Psychopathol, 15(2):403–30.

World Health Organization. (2017). Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates.

Xu, E., Tan, T. Y. S., Wang, H., Wong, C. S., Chong, KamYan., & Prihadi, K. D.(2021). The perk of writing: How expressive writing reduces depressive symptoms. International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS), 10 (4), 942-948. DOI: 10.11591/ijphs.v10i4.21103




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30872/psikostudia.v13i4.16156

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Nurul Hafizah & Indahria Sulistyarini

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

Indexing by :

         

_________________________________________

PSIKOSTUDIA: Jurnal Psikologi Published by Faculty of Social and Political Siences, University of Mulawarman, Samarinda, East Kalimantan and This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 _________________________________________

PSIKOSTUDIA: Jurnal Psikologi

Department of Psychology
Faculty of Social and Political Siences, University of Mulawarman
Jl. Muara Muntai Kampus Gn. Kelua Samarinda 75411
Phone: +62 813 35350368
E-Mail: psikostudia@fisip.unmul.ac.id