Effectiveness of an Arts-Based Mindfulness Intervention on Anxiety in Students with Learning Disabilities

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. of Psychology and Education of Exceptional children, School of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

2 Assistant Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional children, School of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of art-based mindfulness intervention on anxiety in students with learning disabilities. The present study was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of this study was students with learning disabilities who had been referred to learning disability centers in Shiraz in 2020-2021 (200 boys and 150 girls). Thirty of them (17 boys and 13 girls) were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into experimental (8 boys and 7 girls) and control (9 boys and 6 girls) groups. Then, the multidimensional scale of children's anxiety (MASC) was administered as a pre-test in both groups, and an art-based mindfulness intervention was performed in the experimental group for 12 sessions. Immediately after the intervention, the mentioned test was administered again as a post-test, and one month after the intervention was administered as a follow-up. Data was analyzed using repeated measures variance analysis in SPSS-25 software. The results showed that anxiety scores differed significantly between the two groups. As a result, art-based mindfulness intervention significantly reduced anxiety in students with learning disabilities. Therefore, performing arts-based mindfulness intervention programs is suggested to decrease children's anxiety.

Keywords

References

 
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History

  • Receive Date: 19 January 2023
  • Revise Date: 28 January 2023
  • Accept Date: 14 March 2023

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