Using the Arts as a Proactive Mental Health Strategy for Generation Z

To reach the general population of college students, a technology-assisted approach is paramount. This multidisciplinary project will tease apart the mechanisms of change and implications of employing art therapy approaches for anxiety and stress reduction in college students at much more nuanced level than previously tested using the MBAT approach designed and comparing it to its main components as isolated interventions.

Based on the previous two studies and the accumulated research explored, the following study aims and hypotheses will guide the proposed study.

These are:

Aim 1. To examine the psychological and physiological differences between an Mindfulness-based Art Therapy (MBAT) intervention, its components as isolated Art-Only (AO) and Mindfulness-Only (MO) interventions, and a non-intervention control (C) using a minimal contact, web-based approach with students in Generation Z. Hypothesis 1: MBAT, AO, and MO will produce distinguishable differences in participant outcomes related to anxiety and stress symptomology, protective factors against chronic stress, and the biological stress response compared to a non-intervention control. Aim 2. To evaluate how these interventions affect participants' responses to an acute academic stress simulation using the TSST paradigm. Hypothesis 2: Results of self-report assessments and saliva samples collected during the acute academic stress simulation will produce distinguishable differences between group conditions, suggesting that the art-based interventions engage unique mechanisms of change compared to the Mindfulness-Only intervention. Aim 3. To determine which intervention produces the greatest participant satisfaction and acceptance. Hypothesis 3: Participants of the MBAT and AO interventions will report higher levels of study engagement, overall study satisfaction, and intervention acceptance compared to participants of the MO intervention and non-intervention control group conditions.

B. Research Design The study will investigate the fundamental science underlying MBAT, a specific evidence-based form of therapy that includes mindfulness practices like meditation and yoga, and art therapy. The application of MBAT as a proactive mental health strategy in a pragmatic real-world setting is urgently needed, particularly given the stigma that surrounds mental health. The multidisciplinary team includes detailed expertise in art therapy, clinical psychology, mindfulness, and biological mechanisms. The study will involving using simple but validated psychological and biological measures to evaluate relatively brief, technology-assisted art-based mindfulness.