Art therapy and self-image: A 5-year follow-up art therapy RCT study of women diagnosed with breast cancer

Objective: This follow-up study on perceived self-image and psychophysical distress/psychic symptoms was based on a ranomized contolled study of art therapy on women with breast cancer.

Method: The aim was to examine the long-term effects of time-limited art therapy using the instruments of Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) and Symptom Check List-90 (SCL-90).

Results: Three attachment clusters of the SASB showed significant changes post therapy: Autonomous self (cluster 1), Accepting self (cluster 2), and Loving self (cluster 3). Clusters 2 and 3 continued to change in favor of the intervention group at the 5-year follow-up. There were no significant differences in the SCL-90 results between the intervention group and the control group in the follow-up study.

Significance of results: The art therapy intervention was both therapeutic and psycho-educative. The conclusion of this study is that approaching emotions through time-limited art therapy seems to have a long-lasting effect on the attachment behavioral system shown in the SASB model post intervention, and this effect remained 5 years later.