• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.83-97
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of sand play therapy on the parenting stress and saliva cortisol levels of parents undergoing child counseling programs. The study was conducted with 13 parents who were undergoing child counseling programs. The sessions were held every week for 45 minutes from July, 2011 to September, 2011. To evaluate the effects of sand play therapy, pre test and post test were conducted and the results were then analyzed. The therapy sessions consist of parents making sand boxes, and this was done without consideration of any particular theme. The instrument used was Abidin (1990)'s Parenting Stress Instrument (PSI). Saliva cortisol levels were obtained at the pre-post stage of the sand play therapy. The data were analyzed by means of frequency and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test was conducted by the SPSS. The major findings were as follows; There were significant differences in terms of the decreases in the areas of perception of all the parenting stresses examined, including daily life stress, child temperament stress, child relationship stress, and learning-expectation stress, as well as in saliva cortisol levels. Finally, this study suggests that parenting stress and saliva cortisol levels have a positive relationship, and the effects of sand play therapy were significant with decreases in parenting stress and saliva cortisol levels. There is a clear need for parents undergoing child counseling programs to engage in sand play therapy to decrease parenting stress and saliva cortisol levels.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.525-534
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• 2022

In this study, we investigated the psychological and physiological effects of experiences in real natural forests and virtual forests using artificially controllable VR. The experiment tested 60 adult college students in a natural forest and a graduate seminar room where external light was blocked. It evaluated the effects of the natural and the VR forest environments by comparing the psychological and physiological recovery of the subjects. Psychometric testing using the PANAS psychological index showed increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions after experiencing forest scenery in the natural and VR forest environments. And a stress index, based on measuring cortisol in saliva, decreased significantly in the subjects in both environments. The experiment results can be used to support the creation of a psychological and physiological recovery environment with VR for those who cannot go to the natural forest due to certain restrictions such as physical distance, mobility difficulties, etc. It is expected that the results will be the basis for further research into the visual effects of forest healing and also for widening the use of VR, a technology of the fourth industry, in the field of forestry.