Stress The human physiological response to environmental College - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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The Effect of the Leisure Activity of Coloring

• n Post Test Anxiety in Graduate Level

Occupational Therapy Students

Brittney Burton, OTS and Francie Baxter, OT, PhD, FAOTA

Texas Woman’s University

November 2017 15.8% of graduate students report anxiety impedes their academic performance 20.4% reported stress as a factor as well Anxiety related diagnosis among graduate level students jumped from 14.3% in 2014 to 16.6% in 2016 As students struggle to adapt to college stressors, effective non-pharmacological methods of coping are in high demand

Research to study the effects of these coping strategies is needed as well

Stress

The human physiological response to environmental demands that exceeds a person’s natural regulatory capacities

The subjective feeling of tension, excitability, irritability, or restlessness that a student feels after taking a test

Post-test Anxiety

Stress and the Occupational Adaptation Model

College environment creates a demand for mastery Graduate students have a desire to master it

Press for mastery or occupational challenge requires adaptation Maladaptive response = Stress

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Adaptive energy

Primary level

Higher awareness Drains energy quickly

Secondary level

creative, subconscious Requires less energy

Occupational therapists use meaningful and engaging activity to tap into secondary adaptive energy

Literature

Curry & Kasser (2005) Van der Vennet & Serice (2012) Drake, Seabright, & Olson-Pupek (2014)

Coloring intricate mandalas, plaid designs, and free form blank pages reduces stress in college students following an anxiety inducing stimulus.

How can we expand on these findings? Graduate health care students? Control Group? Post-test Anxiety? Affects on student efficacy?

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the leisure activity of coloring on the anxiety levels of graduate level

• ccupational therapy students after taking a high stress exam.

This study also examines the effect of the leisure activity of coloring

• n the graduate student’s perceptions of their preparedness and

perceptions of their performance on the previous exam.

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that engaging in the leisure activity of coloring for 20 minutes after taking a high stress test will reduce post-test anxiety and positively affect graduate student’s perceptions of their

• wn preparedness and performance on the test.

Methods

Quantitative, pre/posttest study Participants

Purposive convenience sample

41 Masters of occupational therapy students 37 Female * 4 Male 20 First semester students 21 Fourth semester students Ages 22 – 54 years

Instrumentation

Graphic Rating Scales for Anxiety (pre-intervention) Anxiety (post-intervention) Perceptions of test outcome Perceptions of preparedness Demographic form

Ethics

Texas Woman’s University Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects Permission received from faculty to recruit students after their exams

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Procedures

Participants were recruited immediately after a final exam in one of their didactic courses and randomly assigned to either a control room or a leisure activity room Data Collection occurred twice

• once for first-year cohort
• once for second year cohort

Each participant was given a consent form to sign and asked to complete the Anxiety pre-test GRS immediately after entering their assigned room

Procedures

Control group participants asked to converse with friends for 20 minutes All participants completed the remaining GRS scales and demographic data form before leaving the room Leisure activity group participants were given a choice of coloring medium and coloring sheet and asked to color quietly for 20 minutes

Data Analysis

Changes in anxiety from basal level for both groups Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) Followed by independent sample t tests to compare to mean change between both groups Independent sample t tests were also used to compare the participant’s perceptions of outcome

• n previous test and perceptions of preparedness

for the test

SPSS v24 <.05 set as significance

*Indicates P <.05 vs. pre-test 4.55 2.8 * 5.23 2.19 *

1 2 3 4 5 6 Pre-test Post-test

Change in Anxiety Level Over Time

Control group Leisure group

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*Indicates P <.05 vs. control group

• 1.75
• 3.05 *
• 3.5
• 3
• 2.5
• 2
• 1.5
• 1
• 0.5

Control group Leisure group

Mean Change in Anxiety Level

Mean Efficacy Levels of Students After Intervention

Discussion

Our findings expand on research by Curry & Kasser in 2005 and the two replication studies in 2012 and 2014 The use of the leisure activity of coloring does show a significant difference between control group and leisure activity group in reduction of anxiety levels after 20 minute intervention time period. The results showed no significant difference in perceptions of preparedness or performance on the test

Theoretical Implications

Focused, creative leisure activities such as coloring allow the brain to process post-test anxiety in a productive and beneficial way ultimately reducing anxiety Students can relegate stressful post-test ruminations to the secondary level of awareness associated with the adaptive response process of the OA Model

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Limitations and Future Implications

Small sample size Convenience sample No consideration for mental health status No control for level of difficulty of the two didactic exams leading up to the study Self-report measures of anxiety and efficacy

Conclusion

We conclude that the leisure activity of coloring is an easily accessible and effective tool for the reduction of post-test anxiety in graduate level occupational therapy students. Acknowledgements

Thank you Sheetal Suchdev, OTS Helped with developing research protocol, IRB write up, and data collection Research question, research design, research protocol, helping to develop the IRB and data collection. Wanyi Wang, PhD Helped with research design prior to data collection, and data analysis post data collection Along with the 6 students who worked together to insure appropriate distribution of participants and assessment packets along with monitoring the activities of the two groups. Alissa Pettit, Linde Brewer, Samantha Fulp, Jogesh Kamta, Brenda Martinez, Amarjot Kathuria, and Kristine Davis References Curry, N. A., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can mandalas reduce anxiety? Journal of American Art Therapy Association, 22(2), 81-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441 Drake, C. R., Searight, H. R., Olsen-Pupek, K. (2014). The influence of art-making on negative mood states in university students. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(3), 69-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.12691/ajap-2-3-3 Duica, L., Talau, R., Nicoara, D., Dinca, L., Turca, J., & Talau, G. (2012). “Stress-Anxiety-Coping” triad in medical students. Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology, II (LXIV)(2), 96-104. Flinn, J. T., Miller, A., Pyatka, N., Brewer, J., Schneider, T., & Cao, C. G. L. (2016). The effect of stress on learning in surgical skill acquisition. Medical Teacher, 38(9), 897-903. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2015.1114597 Please email Bnburton3@gmail.com for comprehensive citation list