The Effects of Art Therapy on the Well-Being of Medical Students in Eastern North Carolina

Abstract

This research examines how art-based interventions may improve the well-being, and more specifically, any negative emotions, of medical students. Medical students are a population who are at high-risk for the development of stress based psychological disorders (Dyrbye, 2011) and also have shown to infrequently utilize mental health services (Tija, Givens, & Shea, 2005). As art therapy holds low stigma and yields a tangible creative product, it was deemed that it may be an appropriate therapeutic mechanism for stress coping in the demographic of medical students. Three art sessions were held at the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in which students were provided instruction, materials, and meditative purpose for each creative project. Following the completion of the project, students were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire regarding feelings before, during, and after the art sessions. Results mostly supported this hypothesis with significant positive impact on pre-existing negative emotions and high post-session affect reports. However, there was significant induction of anxiety during creative activities correlated with pre-existing negative emotions.