Openness as a Predictor for Change in Zest for Life and Depression After Creative Engagement for Adolescents
Creativity has been used as a means of healing for decades, and it shows to be especially effective in adolescents, who exhibit high levels of brain plasticity. Effective mental health treatments are difficult to find, so research is needed to identify how various factors can predict treatment effectiveness for an individual. This study hypothesized that a creative intervention would lead to higher zest for life, and lower depressive symptoms in a cohort of 39 adolescents. It was also hypothesized that higher scores of openness would be correlated with greater change on these measures, and that these changes would be maintained six months after the intervention. It was found that zest for life improved and depressive symptoms decreased after the intervention, and the improvements were maintained six months later. However, openness was not found to be associated with this change, suggesting that openness does not affect how responsive an individual will be to a creative mental health treatment.