Choir singing and creative writing enhance emotion regulation in adults with chronic mental health conditions

ObjectivesAdults with mental health conditions commonly experience difficulties with emotion regulation which affect their social functioning. Arts-based groups provide opportunities for shared emotional experiences and emotion regulation. This study explores emotion regulation strategies and the emotional effects of arts-based group participation in adults with mental health problems and in controls. Design and methodThe 62 participants included 39 adults with chronic mental health problems who were members of arts-based groups (ABG) and 23 comparison choir (CC) members who were not specifically experiencing mental health problems. The repeated measures design included self-reports of emotion upon waking (T1), the hour before group (T2), end of the group (T3), and evening (T4), as well as participant notes to explain their emotion ratings at each time. They also completed measures of individual and interpersonal emotion regulation. ResultsThe ABG participants engaged marginally more in affect worsening strategies than CC (p=.057 and .08), but there were no other group differences. All participants reported a significant increase in positive emotions, F (3, 180)=28.044, p<.001, =.319; and a decrease in negative emotions during the arts-based activity: F (2.637, 155.597)=21.09, p<.001, =.263. The influence on positive emotions was short-lived, while the effect on negative emotions lasted until evening. ConclusionFindings show that participation in arts-based groups benefits the emotions of both healthy adults and those experiencing mental health conditions through individual and interpersonal processes.