Being Present With Art: The Impact of Mindful Engagement With Art on Awareness and Connection

The purpose of this study is to observe and measure the impact of mindfulness and art pedagogy on stress levels amongst students.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stress
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Art Pedagogy and Mindfulness

Detailed Description

This study uses a waitlist control design. Participants will be randomly assigned to either session one or session two.

Regardless if they are registered for Session One or Session Two, each participant will be invited to self-report their stress levels, feelings of being aware of the present moment, and feelings of connection and belonging on a weekly basis. There will be a follow-up survey at the end of Session One and Session Two to compare changes between participants who have already received the intervention and those who have not. In this way, Session One participants act as a control group. This follow-up survey will be utilized once again after Session Two finishes in order to examine whether there is a lasting impact on Session One participants.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 45
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06520
      • Yale University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Yale student
• 18 years of age or older
• Must complete all survey measures
• Must be available Mondays 5-6 pm EST in October and November

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not a Yale student
• Not 18 years of age or older
• Does not complete all survey measures
• Not available Mondays 5-6 pm EST in October and November

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Art Pedagogy and Mindfulness; Each participant will take part in four 1-hour sessions. Study activities include guided meditation, close looking, drawing, writing, and storytelling. Each session will begin with a guided meditation that is followed by an exercise inspired by two works of art, and end with an opportunity for students to reflect on the experience.	Behavioral: Art Pedagogy and Mindfulness; Each participant will take part in four 1-hour sessions. Study activities include guided meditation, close looking, drawing, writing, and storytelling. Each session will begin with a guided meditation that is followed by an exercise inspired by two works of art, and end with an opportunity for students to reflect on the experience.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in stress from Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention	A primary objective of this study is to determine whether mindful engagement with art reduces student stress levels. This will be measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (min = 0; max = 4) which consists of 10 scale items. The higher the score, the more likely participants are stressed. Participants who received the intervention in Session One will be compared to the control (Session Two).	Baseline, 4 weeks
Change in mindfulness from Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention	A primary objective of this study is to determine whether mindful engagement with art increases mindful awareness in students. This will be measured by the Mindful Awareness Scale (min = 1; max = 6) which includes 15 questions. The higher the score, the more mindful participants are. Participants who received the intervention in Session One will be compared to the control (Session Two).	Baseline, 4 weeks
Change in Connectedness from Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention	A primary objective of this study is to determine whether mindful engagement with art increases feelings of connectedness in students. This will be measured by a scale created by the investigators to ask participants how connected they feel to the Yale community (min = 1; max = 5). This scale involves one question. The higher the score, the more connected participants feel to the Yale community. Participants who received the intervention in Session One will be compared to the control (Session Two).	Baseline, 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Longitudinal Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention on Stress	A secondary objective of this study is to determine whether the Being Present with Art intervention resulted in a longitudinal decrease in stress for Session One participants. This outcome is measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (min = 0; max = 4) which consists of 10 scale items. The higher the score, the more stressed participants are.	Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks
Change in Longitudinal Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention on Mindfulness	A secondary objective of this study is to determine whether the Being Present with Art intervention resulted in a longitudinal increase in mindfulness for Session One participants. This outcome is measured by the Mindful Awareness Scale (min = 1; max = 6) which consists of 15 scale items. The higher the score, the more mindful participants are.	Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks
Change in Longitudinal Impact of Being Present with Art Intervention on Connectedness	A secondary objective of this study is to determine whether the Being Present with Art intervention resulted in a longitudinal increase in connectedness for Session One participants. This outcome is measured by connectedness scale we created for the purpose of this study (min = 1; max = 5) which consists of one question. Higher scores indicate increased participant feelings of connectedness to the Yale community.	Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pre vs. Post-Session Check-In: Investigating Stress	Session One and Session Two participants each attended 4 consecutive weeks of the Being Present with Art programming. The investigators wanted to know whether stress measures before vs. after any one of these four sessions resulted in decreased stress for both Session One and Session Two participants. This was measured by asking students one question about how stressed they currently felt (min = 0; max = 4). Higher scores indicate increased participant stress.	Session One: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4; Session Two: Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8
Pre vs. Post-Session Check-In: Investigating Mindfulness	Session One and Session Two participants each attended 4 consecutive weeks of the Being Present with Art programming. The investigators wanted to know whether mindfulness measures before vs. after any one of these four sessions resulted in increased mindfulness for both Session One and Session Two participants. This was measured by asking students one question about how aware of the present moment they currently felt (min = 0; max = 4). Higher scores indicate increased mindful awareness.	Session One: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4; Session Two: Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8
Pre vs. Post-Session Check-In: Investigating Connectedness	Session One and Session Two participants each attended 4 consecutive weeks of the Being Present with Art programming. The investigators wanted to know whether connectedness measures before vs. after any one of these four sessions resulted in increased connectedness for both Session One and Session Two participants. This was measured by asking students one question about how connected to the Yale community they currently felt (min = 0; max = 4). Higher scores indicate increased feelings of connectedness.	Session One: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4; Session Two: Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Laurie Santos, Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 28, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 30, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): November 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 19, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 25, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 25, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2021
• Last Verified: January 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mindfulness; art pedagogy
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2000028825

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No