| Increasingly, many facilities are learning to appreciate the value of horticulture as a tool for healing emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The Shin-Ka program is designed to utilize the philosophies of horticulture, twelve step, and mindfulness in a comprehensive program that can be used to help decrease the symptomology often associated with substance abuse and environmental stressors. This project used a quasi-experimental design comparing pre and posttest scores of different psychological instruments. The program was four weeks long, with a total of twelve walking lesson plans in the garden lead by the designer of the program, Donna Kobayashi. The program ran twice with a total sample size of 91: 47 in the Focus group and 44 in the Control group. The adolescents were administered a test battery, including the Connors Rating Scale (CRS), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Tellegen Absorption Scale, Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Adolescent Relapse Coping Questionnaire (ARCQ), and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, before and after their involvement in the entire program. The comparison of post Focus group to post Control group test scores indicated changes in abstinence focused coping (t (79) = -2.89, p <.05.) and total scores for coping and relapses (t (79) = -2.27, p < .05) of the ARCQ. The comparison of pre-post test scores for only the Focus group demonstrated changes in emotional problems (t (37) = 2.45, p < .05), hyperactivity problems (t (37) = 2.06, p < .05), and self-critical thinking t (37) = 2.23, p< .05). Trends were also found in the areas of Anxiety, Conduct Problems, and Depression. The comparison of pre-post test scores for the Control group demonstrated changes in family problems (t(41) = 2.12, p < .05), emotional problems (t(41) = 3.45, p < .05), conduct problem (t(41) = 4.39, p < .05), anger problems (t(41) = 2.11, p < .05), ADHD index problem scores (t(41) = 3.52, p < .05), DSM: Inattentive problems (t(41) = 3.68, p < .05), Personal Distress (t(43) = 2.47, p < .05), Abstinence Focused Coping (t(42) = -2.53, p < .05), Absorption (t(41) = -3.04, p < .05), and Depression (t(43) = -5.47, p < .05). The results indicated that the Control Group, contrary to expectations, had better outcomes than the Focus Group. These findings may be the result of time spent at the facility, exposure to pre-treatment, counselor training, random assignment, pretest score differences, and innate healing effects of the garden. The adolescents in both groups did report experiencing similar decreases in the areas of emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity/ADHD problems, and depression. |
