Coloring for stress: what the research says

What the studies found

• Mandalas and plaid both helped. 84 students were made a little anxious, then colored a mandala, a plaid pattern or a blank page. Anxiety fell about equally after the mandala and the plaid, and more than after free coloring on a blank page [1].
• A replication favored mandalas. A later study with the same setup found mandala coloring lowered anxiety more than plaid or a blank page [2].
• Choosing your own colors mattered. 85 students who picked their own colors had a bigger drop in anxiety than students who copied the colors of a finished picture [3].
• A week of daily coloring. 104 female university students colored every day for a week, or did logic puzzles. The coloring group reported fewer depressive symptoms and less anxiety afterwards; the puzzle group did not [4]. The authors call it preliminary evidence.
• Guidance can add something. In two short experiments, anxiety fell after mandala coloring and after free drawing alike; mandala coloring with spoken mindfulness instructions lowered anxiety more than coloring alone [5].
• Repeated with the same people. Two crossover studies with about 50 undergraduates each found coloring lowered anxiety and raised mindfulness compared with a control activity [6].
• Before an exam. 167 university students who colored a mandala or a free design before a test had lower test anxiety, while the anxiety of a group that did not color went up [7].

What the research does not show

• Mandalas are not proven special. A 2022 review that combined 8 studies with 578 adults found mandala coloring did not lower anxiety significantly more than free drawing, and saw signs that small studies overstated the effect [8].
• Short and small. Most studies are a single session of 10 to 30 minutes with university students, often after anxiety was raised in a lab, and measure how people say they feel right afterwards. The longest here lasted one week.
• Not a treatment. None of this shows that coloring treats anxiety, depression or any health condition. If worry or low mood is affecting your daily life, talk to a doctor or a mental-health professional.

If you want to try it

• Give it 10 to 20 minutes, with your phone on silent.
• Pick your own colors; there is no right answer.
• Patterns or free coloring both work; choose whatever you enjoy.
• Paper or screen: print a detailed page or an easy one, or use a coloring app such as Crayon (ours).

Sources

1. Curry NA, Kasser T (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Art Therapy 22(2), 81-85. doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441
2. van der Vennet R, Serice S (2012). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? A replication study. Art Therapy 29(2), 87-92. doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2012.680047
3. Eaton J, Tieber C (2017). The effects of coloring on anxiety, mood, and perseverance. Art Therapy 34(1), 42-46. doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2016.1277113
4. Flett JAM, Lie C, Riordan BC, Thompson LM, Conner TS, Hayne H (2017). Sharpen your pencils: preliminary evidence that adult coloring reduces depressive symptoms and anxiety. Creativity Research Journal 29(4), 409-416. doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2017.1376505
5. Mantzios M, Giannou K (2018). When did coloring books become mindful? Frontiers in Psychology 9, 56. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00056
6. Holt NJ, Furbert L, Sweetingham E (2019). Cognitive and affective benefits of coloring: two randomized controlled crossover studies. Art Therapy 36(4), 200-208. doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1645498
7. Carsley D, Heath NL (2020). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based coloring for university students' test anxiety. Journal of American College Health 68(5), 518-527. doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2019.1583239
8. Jakobsson Støre S, Jakobsson N (2022). The effect of mandala coloring on state anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Art Therapy 39(4), 173-181. doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2021.2003144

We read each study's abstract or full text through the links above. Some journals ask for a subscription to read the full paper.