The Effects of Arts-Based Interventions on Creativity and Depression in Adolescents
This study examined if creative thinking and depression can be improved when adolescents with depressive symptoms participate in meaningful and reflective arts-based activities (e.g., painting, poetry, dancing) during a two-week-long creativity camp. Creative thinking was assessed using three divergent thinking tasks including the Alternative Uses Task, Figural Interpretation Quest (FIQ), and Just Suppose task; depression was assessed with the Children’s Depression Inventory-2 (CDI-2). The participants were separated into two groups, Group A and Group B: Group A completed the CDI-2 and divergent thinking tasks two weeks before the intervention (wait-list control), in addition to being tested right before and right after camp. Group B completed the CDI-2 and the divergent thinking tasks two weeks after the intervention along with testing right before and right after camp. Participants showed significantly decreased depression scores at post-camp compared with pre-camp. Participants also showed an increase in FIQ originality after the creativity camp, with greater improvements after than before the camp. However, there were no significant differences in fluency and flexibility. The results are discussed in terms of why some measures showed greater changes than others, including discussion of age group factors.