Dissertation Abstracts-Lights, camera, and let's put this into action: A pilot study of filmmaking as a mental health intervention for teens in urban communities

摘要

Since the middle of the twentieth century, mental health practitioners have explored the therapeutic aspects of filmmaking. The filmmaking process as a therapeutic medium has been applied in a variety of settings and with different populations, including inpatient treatment centers for adults, schools for children with emotional disturbance, youth centers, and in college counseling centers. As preventative mental health strategies become more popular in schools to promote safe and supportive learning environments, creative interventions that include expressive arts appear more promising in they provide youth with additional methods to explore their emotions and relationships. A scarcity of research exists on filmmaking as a mental health intervention in schools. The current study involves the development and test piloting of a preventative mental health intervention in an urban high school that uses filmmaking as a medium to explore identity and social supportive relationships. Four students participated in an 11-week filmmaking course and completed the Ego-Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ), Social Support and Adolescent Peer Support measures, before and after the course, along with weekly course surveys and a final course evaluation. Additionally, one teacher completed behavioral ratings on the students, 30 days following the course's completion. I evaluated the quantitative measures through means comparison, and administered interviews to the students, which I analyzed via thematic analysis. Additionally, transcripts from the students' final movie projects were analyzed via thematic analysis. The students' responses indicated that they enjoyed the filmmaking course, specifically when they were involved in the active process of making movies. The students reported that the course was helpful for self-learning and increasing their awareness of personal values. Additionally, the students provided information in their interviews and films that related to their self-understanding through their personalities, friendships, family, values, and culture. Clinical implications of the study included the need for active and expressive mental health interventions for youth in schools.