Experimenting the effect of interactive television-based music combined with art therapy to curtail the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in children

This study aims to test the effect of combining art and music therapies administered through interactive television, to curtail post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of school children who have experienced kidnapping. A quasi-experiment was carried out in two selected secondary schools. The study sample comprised 450 students divided into a control group of 225 and an experiment group of 225. The treatment group was further divided into art (<i>N</i> = 75), music (<i>N</i> = 75) and art combined with music therapy groups (<i>N</i> = 75), respectively. Results suggest that interactive TV-based music therapy alone, art therapy alone, and art plus music therapy are effective intervention strategies for reducing the PTSD of school children who have experienced kidnapping in Nigeria (effect size = .471). Compared to interactive TV-based music therapy or art therapy alone, interactive TV-based art plus music treatment is more successful in reducing PTSD (effect size = .544). We recommend the introduction of interactive TV-based music and art therapy to reduce the PTSD of children who survived kidnapping. More focus should be placed on combining art with music therapy, which is more effective in curtailing children's PTSD.