title: Humor intervention program for children with chronic diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study developed and implemented a humor intervention program for school-aged children with chronic diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three children with atopic dermatitis and type 1 diabetes were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group included 17 children while the control group included 16 children. The experimental group participated in 6 weekly sessions of a 60-minute humor intervention. The subject and type of humorous material was collected from a survey of parents and children. Outcome measures assessed pre- and post-intervention included stress, behavior profile scores, and resilience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant decrease in behavior problems and increase in resiliency in experimental group compared to control group. There was no difference in stress cortisol measures between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was the first to examine a humor intervention for children with chronic diseases in South Korea and offers practical implications for humor interventions in pediatric nursing.
authors.affiliation: Chung-Ang University, Red Cross College of Nursing, Seoul 156-756, South Korea. Electronic address: hiraly@cau.ac.kr.
authors.forename: In Ok
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000628:therapy; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic
keywords: Behavior problems; Humor intervention program; Resilience; School-aged children; Stress