Art therapists’ fear of COVID-19, subjective well-being, and mindfulness

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit face-to-face service fields, including art therapy. The present study examined changes in Korean art therapists’ subjective well-being between the pre- and during pandemic periods. We also investigated whether the fear of COVID-19 affected art therapists’ subjective well-being and verified the mediating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between COVID-19 fear and subjective well-being. We used the existing data of 203 Korean art therapists’ subjective well-being, and recruited 132 new participants. The participants were Korean art therapists and art therapy students who completed a subjective well-being questionnaire, a Fear of COVID-19 scale, and a mindfulness questionnaire. The results indicated lower levels of subjective well-being during the COVID-19 period than pre-pandemic. Furthermore, we confirmed that the fear of COVID-19 lowered subjective well-being, with mindfulness mediating the relationship. This study discusses core components of mindfulness, decentering, and embodiment as attributes shared with art therapy. Our results highlight the importance of dispositional mindfulness to foster subjective well-being during the pandemic.

The influence of college students' academic stressors on mental health during COVID-19: The mediating effect of social support, social well-being, and self-identity

“…Social well-being was one of the outcomes of positive mental health and an important factor for it ( 50 , 83 ). The stressors of the public were severe during COVID-19, and some students also were concerned about their employment ( 84 ).…”

“…Research showed that social support played a significantly positive predictor of social well-being ( 44 ), which meant that if an individual received enough support from families, friends, or any others, they would have a higher level of well-being. In a time when students faced uncertainty and a continually changing environment, COVID-19 lowered individuals' well-being ( 50 ). Research showed that academic stressors were significantly negatively correlated with well-being, and social support mediated the relationship ( 42 , 51 – 53 ).…”

“…And self-identity had important self-aspects as self-esteem ( 63 ), which might have a stress-buffering role. Therefore, social support, social well-being, and self-identity all could be considered as stress-buffer factors and had positive functions to protect mental health ( 41 , 43 – 46 , 50 , 55 , 59 , 60 ). Hong et al ( 64 ) pointed out that related stressors in life would first affect individual emotional response and attitude toward life, and then ultimately affect mental health through positive or negative emotions as suggested.…”

Specifics of Arts Therapists’ Self-Care Strategies

“…Viens no pieejamiem resursiem, kas var stiprināt psihisko veselību un veicināt psiholoģisko noturību Covid-19 pandēmijas situācijā, ir pašpalīdzība (Rancāns u.c., 2021). Pandēmijas laikā veiktajos pētījumos akcentēta nepieciešamība rosināt pašpalīdzības praktizēšanu profesionāļiem palīdzošajās profesijās, tādējādi mazinot pandēmijas radīto apdraudējumu psihiskajai veselībai (piem., un veicinot subjektīvo labizjūtu (Jue & Ha, 2022).…”

“…Pašpalīdzības aktualitāti Latvijā apliecina pētnieku darbs pie vairākiem pašpalīdzības izpētes mērinstrumentiem (Mārtinsone, Perepjolkina, & Ruža, in press;, citi pašpalīdzības pētījumi (piem., Paičs, Mārtinsone, & Ļubenko, 2019;Paičs, Regzdiņa-Pelēķe, Mārtinsone, & Perepjolkina, 2021) un izstrādnes (Mārtinsone, 2021), kā arī pašpalīdzības izpēte plašāku pētījumu ietvaros Rancāns et al, 2021), tomēr palīdzošo profesiju pārstāvju, tostarp mākslas terapeitu, pašpalīdzība līdz šim maz pētīta. Citviet pasaulē veiktie pētījumi apskata mākslas terapeitu un profesijā studējošo pašpalīdzību gan kā kopumu (piem., Moore & Wilhelm, 2019), gan pievēršas atsevišķām stratēģijām (piem, Gavron & Orkibi, 2021;Jue & Ha, 2022). Nenoteiktības un pārmaiņu situācija veselības aprūpē, psiholoģiskā un profesionālā atbalsta pakalpojumu jomā un sabiedrībā kopumā aktualizē nepieciešamību pēc jaunām zināšanām par mākslas terapeitu pašpalīdzību, lai izprastu, kādu nozīmi profesionāļi piešķir pašpalīdzībai un cik lielā mērā to praktizē Covid-19 pandēmijas situācijā, un rastu teorētisku pamatojumu iespējamajiem risinājumiem profesionāļu atbalstam.…”