Effects of Reading Poetry versus Facts on Level of Anxiety Sedona McCabe

What’s the Point? Prevalence of anxiety 18.1% of adults in US diagnosed with anxiety disorder per year (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2018) 80% of college students report stress and feelings of anxiety (The American Institute of Stress, 2018) Poetry therapy (Montgomery & Maunders 2015; Mohammadian et al., 2018) Lack of research on effects of poetry on anxiety reduction Means of communicating subdued thoughts and feelings Although the use of creative art therapy has increased in recent years, lack of significant research on effects of poetry specifically on anxiety.

Furong et al. (2018) Association between college students’ physical activity during free time and likelihood of being exposed to stress 21% depression and anxiety symptoms 59% exercise to cope with stress Gauge stress coping mechanisms to determine if daily experiences could potentially reduce stress and anxiety

Montgomery & Maunders (2015) Effectiveness of creative bibliotherapy in decreasing internalized behaviors and externalized behaviors, and strengthening of prosocial behaviors Moderate positive effect on all behaviors Decrease internalized and externalized behaviors Strengthened prosocial behaviors Reading (poetry) potentially reduce anxiety

Mohammadian et al. (2011) Hypothesized poetry therapy positive effect on depression, anxiety and stress levels of undergraduate females Results supporting hypothesis Specifically poetry valid coping mechanism for anxiety and stress in college students

Overall Purpose/Goal and Research Question(s) Purpose/Goal: to study the effects of poetry on anxiety in undergraduate students Research Questions: Does poetry have an effect on anxiety levels? Is there a difference in the effect of poetry on anxiety levels of participants with high and low anxiety levels?

Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: Reading poetry will decrease anxiety levels (HR and GSR). Hypothesis 2: It will be more likely that reading poetry will decrease anxiety of participants with self-reports of high anxiety compared to those with self-reports of low anxiety.

Independent Variable Conditions IV₁: Poetry (within) Fun facts (control) Poetry IV₂: Level of Anxiety (between) High Low Median split:14 and lower in low; 15 and higher in high

Measurement of Dependent Variables Measured using biofeedback machine DV₁: Heart Rate Baseline While reading fun facts While reading poetry DV₂: Skin Conductance (GSR) Baseline While reading fun facts While reading poetry

Participants 40 undergraduate students at the University of Lynchburg 31 women, 9 men with average age of 20 (SD = 1.58) 34 Caucasians, 6 non-Caucasian 27 science major, 13 non-science major 23 self-reported they at least somewhat enjoy reading 16 students self-reported reading poetry at least sometimes 10 thrown out due to a faulty in equipment

Materials Beck Anxiety Inventory (trait anxiety) (Beck et al., 1988) Biofeedback machine (HR and GSR) Demographics Questionnaire 6 fun facts and 6 poems 2 questions Trait: stable characteristics of anxiety P: Rupi Kaur and r.h. Sin FF: Livin3 2 questions about the content and their enjoyability of the passage for each poem and fun fact Reason for content to test if they actually understanding and paying attention

Procedure Informed Consent form Demographics Questionnaire Hook up to biofeedback machine Obtain baseline heart rate (HR) and GSR (skin conductance) Read fun facts and poetry (HR and GSR) 2 Questions following each poem and fun fact Beck Anxiety Inventory One 15 minute session

Data Analysis Design: mixed-model ANOVA Content: within-subjects Differences in HR and GSR on content Anxiety Level: between-subjects Differences in HR and GSR on anxiety

Hypothesis 1 Results: Reading poetry would decrease HR Main effect: content not significant, F (2, 76) = 1.08, p > .05, η2 = .03. Baseline: (M = 86.46, SD = 28.68) Fun Facts: (M = 90.06 , SD = 22.84) Poetry: (M = 88.44, SD = 22.10) Main effect: anxiety not significant, F (1, 38) = .48, p > .05, η2 = .01. Less anxiety: (M = 85.79, SD = 32.67) More anxiety: (M = 90.85, SD =32.67) Unfortunately, there was no significant main effects for HR, suggesting that HR did not significantly differ across time or condition.

Hypothesis 1 Results Continued Interaction effect: content and anxiety on heart rate not significant, F (2, 76) = 2.14, p > .05, η2= .05 Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of heart rate on anxiety level (less, more) and content (baseline, fun facts, and poetry). Anxiety Level Mean Standard Deviation Baseline Heart Rate Less 81.10 26.52 More 91.82 30.41 Total 86.46 28.68 Fun Facts Heart Rate 89.63 23.83 90.50 22.41 90.06 22.84 Poetry Heart Rate 86.65 22.97 90.23 21.75 88.44 22.10 Also no significant interaction effect

Hypothesis 2 Results: Reading poetry would decrease GSR Main effect: content not significant, F (2, 76) = .88 , p > .05, η2 = .02 Baseline: (M = 3.19, SD = .82) Fun Facts: (M = 3.20 , SD = .81) Poems: (M = 3.20, SD = .81) Main Effect: anxiety not significant, F (1, 38) = .61, p > .05, η2 = .02 Less anxiety: (M = 3.09, SD = 6.32) More anxiety: (M = 3.30, SD = 6.32) Also, there was no significant main effects for GSR, suggesting that GSR did not significantly differ across time or condition.

Hypothesis 2 Results Continued Interaction effect: content and anxiety on GSR not significant, F (2, 76) = .07, p > .05, η2= .00 Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of GSR on anxiety level (less, more) and content (baseline, fun facts, and poetry). Anxiety Level Mean Standard Deviation Baseline GSR Less 3.09 .08 More 3.29 .85 Total 3.19 .82 Fun Facts GSR .79 3.30 .84 3.20 .81 Poetry GSR Also no significant interaction

Research Contributions Focused on a specific form of creative art: poetry Included subjective and objective measurements Only subjective: readiness and willingness to disclose Inclusion of undergraduate college students Enabled more direct comparison and observation Nonclinical population Inclusion of undergraduate students enabled a more direct comparison and observation of changes in anxiety levels amongst this specific population.

Conclusions Short-term exposure to poetry did not reduce anxiety Reading poetry advantages: Inexpensive Easily accessible Educational Easy to implement and benefit academically

Limitations Sufficient manipulation of variables More neutral control variable (scholastic work) Session length (longer, multiple sessions) Lack of state anxiety measure Diversity: Gender: 77.5% female and 85% Caucasian BAI scores can range from 0-63: median = 14 Minimize response to the effects of variables (not IV), increasing the reliability of the results. Short term not able to determine cause and effect, longer period of time may show the patterns of decreased anxiety levels as result of poetry over time Anxiety at that time Less of a difference between the less and more anxiety, neutralizing or undermining any effect of procedure

Future Research Pre and posttest state anxiety measure Multiple, longer sessions Objective measures (eliminate bias, prejudice, personal opinion/interpretation) Continue to examine the viability of poetry as an intervention for anxiety in college undergraduates Lead to potential differences in current state anxiety after reading poetry, rather than relying on physical effects from objective measures Lead to potential greater difference in HR and GSR over that more extended period of time

References Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2018). Facts & Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2018 from https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics Furong, X., Wenhao, L., Chepyator-Thompson, J. R., & Schmidlein, R. (2018). Relations of physical activity and stress vulnerability in university students. College Student Journal, 52(1), 65–73. Liu, C. H., Stevens, C., Wong, S. H.M., Yasui, M., & Chen, J. A. (2018). The prevalence and predictors of mental health diagnoses and suicide among u.S. College students: Implications for addressing disparities in service use. Depression and Anxiety. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.22830 Mohammadian, Y., Shahidi, S., Mahaki, B., Mohammadi, A. Z., Baghban, A. A., & Zayeri, F. (2011). Evaluating the use of poetry to reduce signs of depression, anxiety and stress in Iranian female students. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38(1), 59-63. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2010.12.002 Montgomery, P., & Maunders, K. (2015). The effectiveness of creative bibliotherapy for internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors in children: A systematic review.Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 37-47. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.010 The American Institute of Stress (2018, August 02). College students. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.stress.org/college-students/

Acknowledgements Dr. Marciano Dylan Elliott Addy Weaver Greek Life and Intro to Psychology students Eliza Gorra

Questions?