Self-Portraits: Literal Self-Portraits, Mandalas, and Free Drawings to Reduce Anxiety

This mixed methods study assessed the emotional impact of therapeutic art techniques in reducing subjective anxiety by comparing three options for drawing a self-portrait: literal self-portrait, mandala, and free drawing. Undergraduate college students (n = 60) were provided with a mood induction pr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Art therapy 2022-01, Vol.39 (1), p.34-42
Main Authors: Becerra, Leslie A., Hill, Elizabeth M., Abraham, Kristen M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Art Activities
Art Therapy
free drawing
Freehand Drawing
Likert Scales
mandala
Mixed methods research
Portraits
Portraiture
Self image
self-portrait
state anxiety
Student Attitudes
Symbols
Undergraduate Students
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This mixed methods study assessed the emotional impact of therapeutic art techniques in reducing subjective anxiety by comparing three options for drawing a self-portrait: literal self-portrait, mandala, and free drawing. Undergraduate college students (n = 60) were provided with a mood induction procedure and then randomly assigned to a drawing condition. State anxiety increased after mood was induced, and decreased after completing a drawing for all conditions. There were no statistical differences in state anxiety across drawing conditions at any time point. Qualitative analysis revealed both shared and unique themes among drawing conditions. This study concluded that the process of drawing a self-portrait, regardless of approach, generally reduced state anxiety.
ISSN:0742-1656
2159-9394
DOI:10.1080/07421656.2021.1976024