The psychological implications of creative activities : an investigation into how painting affects stress levels

Abstract

The research aimed to investigate the effects of creative activity on stress and anxiety levels. The reasons for this proposed direction of study was to investigate the reasons for reported success in art therapy (thus strengthening its standing in the scientific psychological community), to examine whether creative activities could be used to benefit the mental well-being of people in general and to study the link between creativity and mental well-being. This was accomplished through the following means: Patients from MuelMed hospital’s rehabilitation centre took part in a creative intervention. Patients took the SCL-90-R before painting for about an hour and then filled in the SCL-90-R again. A control group was also selected who also filled in the SCL-90-R to ascertain their stress levels. The mean score’s of the two groups was compared as well as the before and after scores of the experimental group. The MMSE (Mini Mental Status Exam) was used to screen patients, so that only those patients cognitively capable of participating in the study took part in the experiment. For the most part the MMSE was a useful tool to screen patients. In the experimental group, there was no statistically significant difference between the before and after scores on the SCL-90-R. Because the experimental group showed no difference, only one measure of the control group was taken, which also did not differ significantly from the scores of the experimental group. Reasons for the lack of statistical significance is discussed, and may be due to a lack of reported initial stress levels. Despite the lack of a statistically significant findings, it is suggested that further studies be conducted to establish the role creativity plays in mental well-being. Copyright