The Effects of Drawing and Coloring Mandala on Anxiety among Pregnant Women in Their Third Trimester

Abstract

Pregnancy triggers changes in women’s physical and psychological conditions. These changes may bring anxiety, which may escalate when the time of labor is getting closer. Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional reaction to real or imaginary danger. There are two types of anxiety, state anxiety and trait anxiety. State anxiety can be defined as momentary anxiety and trait anxiety is a relatively permanent anxiety. The alternative way to reduce the level of anxiety is doing activities such as drawing and coloring mandalas. Mandala is a geometric form that is considered as a universal symbol that can be used for spiritual growth or as visual meditation. This study is aimed to determine the effect of the activity of drawing and coloring mandalas on anxiety. The research method used was an experimental in the form of one group pre-test and post-test. Participants in this study were women in their third trimester of pregnancy divided into mandala drawing group and the free-form drawing group as the control group. In the mandala drawing group, the participants were asked to draw and color designs in mandala and in another group were asked to draw in freely. The result of this study indicates that drawing and coloring circles (mandalas) significantly reduces trait anxiety, t = 2.61, p <0.05.