MANDALA-COLORING AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION FOR ANXIETY REDUCTION IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Objective: To study the effectiveness of mandala-coloring as a therapeutic intervention for reducing anxiety in university students.Study Design: Quasi experimental study.Place and Duration of Study: International Islamic University Islamabad, from Feb to Jun 2016.Material and Methods: A sample of 100 university students of 13-18 years of education was taken (men=50, women=50) with the age range of 18 to 34 years. Convenience sampling technique was used. A pretest-posttest design was adopted in which State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered to measure the levels of State Anxiety and Trait Anxiety before and after coloring a pre-drawn mandala.Results: Results were analyzed using t-test. They indicated that there was a significant difference in the levels of State and Trait Anxieties in the pretest and posttest measures in both men and women.Conclusion: Using mandala-coloring as a therapeutic intervention can reduce State Anxiety and Trait Anxiety in university students.