Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness?

Background: Mindfulness-based interventions can successfully improve wellbeing in young adults. Mindful colouring is an applied mindfulness practice and improves short-term wellbeing. Less evidence is available about the effectiveness of regular, self-guided colouring. We investigated a self-guided two-week colouring intervention for university student wellbeing.

Methods: One-hundred and forty university students completed a minimum of 10-min self-guided colouring, six times over two weeks. Participants were assessed at baseline and two-week follow-up using self-report measures of wellbeing, relating to quality of life, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and mindfulness.

Results: Colouring significantly improved all measures of mental health, wellbeing and mindfulness in students who completed at least six sessions of self-guided colouring.

Conclusion: Colouring is an accessible activity that can improve student wellbeing when carried out regularly over two weeks. Future research should investigate the impact of longer-term colouring practice on wellbeing, and the effect of this intervention in the general adult population.