The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy on Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the diseases can have psychological causes, in addition to medical causes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based art therapy on depression, anxiety and stress among patients with type 2 diabetes.

The present study was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group waiting for treatment. The research sample consisted of 50 people with type 2 diabetes who were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received mindfulness-based art therapy for 12 sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. To measure psychological variables, the short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of covariance by SPSS/25 software at a significance level of α = 0.05.

The results of one-way analysis of covariance showed that a period of mindfulness-based art therapy significantly reduced depression and anxiety in patients with type 2 diabetes (p <0.05) but did not have a significant effect on stress in patients with type 2 diabetes (p>0.05).

According to the results of the present study, this intervention is recommended to promote mental health in people with type 2 diabetes.