Effectiveness of Art Therapy in Reducing State Anxiety among Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of art therapy in reducing state anxiety among adult persons with mild intellectual disabilities A total of 39 participants aged 18 to 35 who met the inclusionary criteria were included in the study. The participants were randomly divided into control (n=18) and experimental (n=21) groups. The experimental group received 10 sessions of art therapy over two weeks. The Self-Evaluation State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to assess anxiety levels. Data analysis using SPSS version 20.0 revealed a significant difference between the control and experimental groups for the efficacy of art therapy in reducing state anxiety (t=2.97, df=37, p<0.01). These findings suggest that art therapy can be an effective intervention for reducing anxiety among adult persons with intellectual disabilities. However, further research with larger sample sizes and longer intervention durations is recommended to enhance the applicability of these findings.