Knowledge Box

Psychological Impact of Coloring for Adults

HSB 3rd Floor Student Commons

Mindfulness is characterized by a nonjudgmental and direct awareness of inputs (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Although several tasks are included in larger mindfulness meditation programs that are presumed to induce states of mindfulness , little research has examined such small tasks empirically as stand-alone methods of inducing states of mindfulness. This research intends to explore coloring as a potential mindfulness induction task and evaluate its impact on anxiety. Following a negative mood induction, participants will either be prompted to mindfully complete a coloring task or to color as they typically would. Data on baseline levels of anxiety and mindfulness will be compared with levels following the stress-inducing and coloring tasks. We anticipate anxiety to decrease significantly more in participants who color mindfully compared to controls. Discussion will center on implications of the research for art therapy and for the mindfulness induction literature.