The Effectiveness of Art Therapy on Improving Self-Esteem and Social Skills of Mental Retardation Boys

Abstract

Mental retardation is problematic due to cognitive limitations in two basic aspects of their lives, including social skills and self esteem. A review of the research background has proven the effectiveness of art therapy in dealing with mental retardation and the reduction of negative psychological factors, such as aggression in them. As a result, the aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of art therapy on improving social skills and subjective mental self-esteem, which so far has not been studied by researchers. For this reason, mental retardation was assigned to the control and experimental groups and then under the treatment painting sessions. To analyze the data, covariance analysis and SPSS software were used. The results showed that art therapy affects the improvement of social skills and the increase of mental retardation self-esteem.