Logo image
Back
Psychosocial health benefits of engaging in indigenous and traditional artforms and art therapy practice
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Psychosocial health benefits of engaging in indigenous and traditional artforms and art therapy practice

Girija Kaimal, Kristyn Sandra Stickley, Bani Malhotra, Kim Valldejuli and Joanna Herres
The arts in psychotherapy, v 93, 102271
Apr 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2025.102271
Featured in Collection :   Research Supported by Drexel Libraries' OA Programs
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2025.102271View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access via Drexel Libraries Read and Publish Program 2025CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Restricted

Abstract

Heritage art Indigenous art Traditional art Art therapy Clinical practice Art or Music Therapy Clinical Medicine Cultural Heritage Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous and traditional (heritage) arts practices have sustained over time to serve the creative and expressive psychosocial needs of communities. The potential therapeutic aspects of these long-standing practices to promote health and well-being are not well understood. This paper reports preliminary quantitative findings from a global multi-site within-subjects mixed methods research study examining the impact of heritage artforms on affect, anxiety, stress, self-efficacy, and creative agency to understand the physical and psychosocial benefits as applied to art therapy practice. The study participants (n=54) engaged in two conditions: 1) self-selected preferred heritage art practice and 2) a puzzle task. All participants completed standardized pre and post measures before and after both sessions. Findings indicated that participants reported more positive affect (PA) and less negative affect (NA) after the heritage art task compared to the puzzle task. When interactions between time and task were examined, statistical significance was found for NA as well as anxiety, demonstrating that participants experienced more significant reductions in these areas in the heritage art task compared to the puzzle task. Engaging in heritage artforms may provide multiple psychosocial benefits which may support positive outcomes in art therapy practice.

Metrics

32 Record Views
1 citations in Web of Science

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Clinical
Rehabilitation
Logo image