Presentation Type

Poster

Keywords

Anxiety, Art Therapy, Art

Department

Psychology

Major

Psychology

Abstract

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health concerns in the United States according to the National Institute of Mental Health. A popular nonprofessional approach to managing anxiety is coloring. While mandala patterns have long been considered meditative and anxiety reducing, adult coloring books bring a new possibility to anxiety treatment. The present study compared the effects of four different coloring methods on state anxiety scores to determine whether adult coloring books are similar to other coloring approaches in impacting anxiety. Participants included 160 undergraduates (96 female, 64 male) attending a private, liberal arts university who were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: free-form coloring, coloring a pre-printed mandala, creating and coloring a mandala, or coloring a page from an adult coloring book. Participants were asked to engage in an anxiety induction writing activity, complete a state anxiety inventory (Time 1), participate in their assigned coloring activity for 20 minutes, and then complete the anxiety inventory a second time (Time 2). Groups were compared on their anxiety scores (Time 2) after completing the coloring intervention, and an ANOVA determined that free-form coloring was significantly less effective at impacting anxiety than the other three conditions (F(3,94)= 3.939, p= .011), which did not differ significantly from each other. The results suggest that coloring books are as effective as other structured forms of coloring in impacting anxiety. Implications for use and future research as well as possible explanations for structured coloring’s anxiety-impacting properties are discussed.

Faculty Mentor

Cindy Miller-Perrin

Funding Source or Research Program

Not Identified

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

24-3-2017 2:00 PM

End Date

24-3-2017 3:00 PM

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Mar 24th, 2:00 PM Mar 24th, 3:00 PM

The Effectiveness of Coloring Methods for Anxiety Reduction

Waves Cafeteria

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health concerns in the United States according to the National Institute of Mental Health. A popular nonprofessional approach to managing anxiety is coloring. While mandala patterns have long been considered meditative and anxiety reducing, adult coloring books bring a new possibility to anxiety treatment. The present study compared the effects of four different coloring methods on state anxiety scores to determine whether adult coloring books are similar to other coloring approaches in impacting anxiety. Participants included 160 undergraduates (96 female, 64 male) attending a private, liberal arts university who were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: free-form coloring, coloring a pre-printed mandala, creating and coloring a mandala, or coloring a page from an adult coloring book. Participants were asked to engage in an anxiety induction writing activity, complete a state anxiety inventory (Time 1), participate in their assigned coloring activity for 20 minutes, and then complete the anxiety inventory a second time (Time 2). Groups were compared on their anxiety scores (Time 2) after completing the coloring intervention, and an ANOVA determined that free-form coloring was significantly less effective at impacting anxiety than the other three conditions (F(3,94)= 3.939, p= .011), which did not differ significantly from each other. The results suggest that coloring books are as effective as other structured forms of coloring in impacting anxiety. Implications for use and future research as well as possible explanations for structured coloring’s anxiety-impacting properties are discussed.