Longitudinal Change Resulting From The Adf'S Arts For Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork And Skills (Arrts) Program

Arts-based activities are increasingly being offered to current and former military members as an adjunct to their established therapeutic interventions. Individuals who undertake arts-based activities have shown reductions in both anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, little is known about the specific mechanisms engaged by these activities or the duration of their positive effects. The current research aims to test changes in four mechanisms-specifically, behavioural activation, belonging, therapeutic alliance and flow states-that have been prominent contributors to success in established therapeutic interventions. The mechanisms plus changes in anxiety, depression and core self evaluations were assessed during a four-week art-based program for veterans that included visual, written, musical or theatrical streams in a nonclinical setting. Participants demonstrated increased positive changes in all four mechanisms and core self evaluations, which peaked at the end of the program. Conversely, anxiety and depressive symptoms reduced in a similar pattern. Over a six-month follow-up, the scores on all measures returned to levels similar to their baselines.