New research suggests that engaging in creative activities could have significant benefits for public mental health, rivalling the positive impact of employment.
A study published in Frontiers in Public Health on 16 August 2024 has revealed that participation in arts and crafts activities is associated with improved mental wellbeing, potentially offering a novel approach to public health interventions. The research, conducted by scientists at Anglia Ruskin University, analysed data from over 7,000 participants in the UK’s annual Taking Part survey.
The impact of creative engagement
Dr Helen Keyes, lead author of the study, emphasised the substantial effect of creative activities on individuals’ sense of life’s worth. “Crafting and other artistic activities showed a meaningful effect in predicting people’s sense that their life is worthwhile,” Dr Keyes explained. “Indeed, the impact of crafting was bigger than the impact of being in employment.”
This finding is particularly significant given the challenges to public mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research suggests that promoting access to artistic activities could provide a cost-effective and widely accessible means of improving population-level wellbeing.
The study analysed responses from 7,182 participants in the Taking Part survey, which evaluates public engagement with cultural, digital, and sporting activities. This broad sample allowed researchers to investigate the impact of creative arts generally, rather than focusing on specific crafts.
Importantly, the researchers controlled for sociodemographic variables known to affect wellbeing, including gender, age group, health, employment status, and level of deprivation. This approach helped to isolate the specific impact of arts and crafts engagement on mental health outcomes.
Participants were asked to rate their feelings of happiness, anxiety, and life satisfaction, as well as their sense of life’s worthwhileness. They were also questioned about their experiences of loneliness. The study found that 37.4% of respondents had participated in at least one craft activity over the previous 12 months.
Key outcomes
The results revealed that individuals who engaged in arts and crafts reported higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction, as well as a stronger sense that life is worthwhile. Notably, the boost to respondents’ sense of life’s worthwhileness was comparable to the positive impact of being in employment.
However, the study did not find a significant relationship between arts and crafts engagement and levels of loneliness. The researchers speculate that this may be due to the solitary nature of some craft activities, suggesting that further research is needed to explore the social aspects of creative pursuits.
Implications for public health
While the observed effects were small, their magnitude was similar to that of sociodemographic variables, which are typically much harder to influence. This suggests that leveraging the positive effects of artistic activities could offer a significant opportunity to improve public wellbeing.
Dr Keyes proposed that “Governments and national health services might consider funding and promoting crafting, or even socially prescribing these activities for at-risk populations, as part of a promotion and prevention approach to wellbeing and mental health.”
The accessibility and affordability of many arts and crafts activities make them particularly attractive as potential public health interventions. Unlike some wellness strategies that may be cost-prohibitive or require specialised equipment, creative pursuits often have low barriers to entry.
Limitations and future directions
The researchers cautioned that their study is correlational in nature, and further research will be required to establish causation. Dr Keyes acknowledged this limitation: “We can’t know for certain whether crafting is directly causing this increase in wellbeing. The next step would be to carry out an experimental study where we measure people’s wellbeing before and after significant periods of crafting.”
Such experimental studies could provide more robust evidence for the direct impact of arts and crafts on mental health outcomes. This could, in turn, inform the development of targeted interventions and public health policies.
Reference:
Keyes, H., et al. (2024). Creating arts and crafting positively predicts subjective wellbeing. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1417997
