Date of Award

Spring 5-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy & Counseling

Committee Director

Sarah Deaver

Committee Member

Jennie Abrams

Committee Member

Trudy Rauch

Abstract

When considering today’s academic standards, most know that medical students and residents stand in a distinguished class of disciplines undertaking one of the most stressful scholastic paths. Because this notion is becoming more recognizable with the help of research and published studies, some universities have begun implementing electives focused on the health and well being of their students. Such electives have included a variety of stress relieving activities and interventions, including the use of art therapy. While the literature does indicate an effective use of art therapy and art media to alleviate stress, it does not include a study that compares the various types of media to determine which is most effective at relieving stress. The purpose of this study was to identify a stress reducing effect from either the art-making process or the manipulation of paint, sculpting, collage, or drawing materials. Eight medical students from Eastern Virginia Medical School participated in an hour long art making session, in which they were randomly assigned to make art with one of the four aforementioned media. By comparing means from the Perceived Stress Scale to that of the normative data, it appeared that indeed, medical students are more stressed. A decrease in stress was experienced across all four art media. Although these results coincided with findings in the literature, statistical significance could not be calculated due to the small number of participants. Future research should include additional participants, and possibly a more extensive study duration.

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DOI

10.25777/ga0t-gz90

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