Dunia Keperawatan: Jurnal Keperawatan dan Kesehatan DOI: 10.
20527/dk.
Received April 2025.
Accepted November 2025
@JDK 2025
eISSN: 2541Ae5980.
pISSN: 2337-8212 Mindfulness and Art Therapy Drawing: Innovative Therapy to Reduce Student Stress Renny Triwijayanti1*.
Annisa Rahmania2.
Hani Patul Husna3
1,2,3
Diploma i Nursing Study Program.
Faculty of Health Sciences.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Ahmad Dahlan Palembang.
Jenderal A.
Yani Street 13 Ulu Palembang.
Palembang City.
South Sumatra.
Indonesia, 30252 *Corresponding email: renny.
reiqisaisy@gmail.
ABSTRACT
Academic stress is a condition of pressure experienced by individuals due to demands in higher education.
This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness and art therapy drawing in reducing stress among final-year students.
The study employed a pre-experimental one group pretest-posttest design.
total of 41 students received the intervention after completing a pretest, followed by a posttest.
Analysis showed that the mean stress score before intervention was 148.
22 and decreased to 125.
88 after The Paired T-Test yielded a p-value of 0.
001 (O 0.
, indicating a significant effect of the intervention on stress reduction.
Mindfulness therapy helps individuals reinterpret stress more positively, while art therapy drawing serves as a creative outlet for emotional expression.
The combination of both proved effective in reducing student stress levels.
Keywords: Academic Stress.
Art-Drawing Therapy.
Mindfulness.
Students Cite this as: Triwijayanti R.
Rahmania A.
, and Husna HP.
Mindfulness and Art Therapy Drawing: Innovative Therapy to Reduce Student Stress.
Dunia Keperawatan.
: 229-237.
DOI: 10.
20527/dk.
INTRODUCTION
Several factors contribute to academic stress, including heavy academic workloads, accumulated assignments, pressures, and the surrounding social Motivation also plays a significant role in influencing academic stress levels among students .
Research shows that internal factorsAi such as difficulty regulating emotions challengesAiand external factorsAisuch as increased workload, complex course performanceAican Female students are reported to be at higher risk due to hormonal differences and psychosocial stressors.
In final-year compounded by demanding thesis completion and academic burnout .
Academic stress is defined as a condition in which an individual experiences pressure resulting from perceptions and evaluations of academic stressors related to learning demands in higher education .
It emerges when students feel expectations that exceed their adaptive abilities .
College students are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues, especially those related to stress management .
Academic demands presentations, practicums, and daily tasks often become significant sources of When unmanaged, academic stress can lead to decreased cognitive performance, impaired concentration, memory problems, and lower academic achievement .
In relation to academic stress experienced by students, a program is Triwijayanti R.
Rahmania A.
, and Husna HP.
Mindfulness and Art.
needed to train students' abilities in academic stress management, one of which is art therapy .
Art therapy is not only limited to painting or coloring activities, but it works through several psychological mechanisms, including processing, cognitive reframing, and Through drawing, painting, and coloring, individuals can externalize internal emotional tension, process stressful experiences symbolically, and stimulate decreased physiological arousal .
progress in their studies.
Female students are also reported to have almost twice the risk of experiencing stress due to hormonal differences and variations in psychosocial stressors.
These stressors are further intensified among final-year students who often experience burnout as they face demanding requirements such as completing a thesis and final academic reports .
Given the interconnected stressors, appropriate interventions are required to help students manage their academic stress, one of which is art therapy .
Students experiencing academic stress in the high category were 28% .
Studies also show that entering university can create tension or stress because students must adapt to changes in the learning system, lifestyle, and social environment .
Similar conditions are also experienced by finalyear students, who have been consistently reported to experience high levels of academic stress.
Research in Indonesia found that most final-year students experience high academic stress .
%) due to the demands of completing a thesis, financial burdens such as tuition payments, difficulty accessing printed literature, limited consultation time with supervisors, and various personal problems .
Coloring therapyAione form of art therapyAihas been shown to reduce academic stress in students, as research subjects demonstrated lower stress levels and improved emotional states after participating in coloring activities.
previous studies, students also showed renewed enthusiasm in engaging in online learning, completing assignments, and actively seeking information related to coursework.
During art therapy sessions, participants reported feelings of relief, relaxation, and emotional release, all of which support stress reduction .
Evidence from international studies further supports that art therapy can emotional regulation, and decrease anxiety, reinforcing its relevance as an intervention for academic stress.
Other studies also indicate that final-year nursing students experience increased stress marked by emotional exhaustion, decreased concentration, and academic burnout during the thesis-writing period .
Based on these prevalence data, academic stress among university studentsAiparticularly those in their final yearAirequires immediate attention.
Stress management may include nonpharmacological approaches, one of Mindfulness therapy applies cognitive Students experience academic stress due to a combination of internal and external Internal difficulties in understanding academic material, limited emotional regulation, and an inability to respond effectively to academic challenges.
External factors include increasing academic workload, receiving lower grades than expected, pressures from the social and family environment, and the complexity of courses that increases as students Dunia Keperawatan.
Volume 13.
Nomor 3.
November 2025: 229-237 principles and meditative techniques consisting of two important components:
present-moment awareness without judgment and .
acceptance-based attitude formation .
Therefore, this study adopts a combined intervention using mindfulness therapy and art drawing therapy to help students manage academic stress more adaptively.
The intervention consisted of three structured sessions conducted face-toface in small groups.
Session 1 included 20 minutes of mindfulness breathing exercises focusing on present-moment Session 2 involved 25 minutes of guided mindfulness imagery regulation and reduce physiological Session 3 provided 30 minutes of art drawing therapy, where participants were instructed to express their emotional experiences through free drawing using A4 paper and coloring All sessions were facilitated by a trained mindfulness practitioner and supervised by the research team.
METHODS
This study employed a quantitative method with a pre-experimental onegroup pretestAeposttest design .
The study involved a single intervention group that received both mindfulness therapy and art drawing therapy.
Before the intervention, a pre-test was administered, followed by the treatment sessions, and afterward a post-test was conducted to determine changes in academic stress levels.
This study has passed ethical approval with registration 000911/KEP IKesT Muhammadiyah Palembang/2025.
To assess changes in academic stress, the Student Life Stress Inventory (SLSI) was used as the pre-test and post-test instrument .
The SLSI consists of 51 statement items measuring five domains of academic stress, each rated on a Likert scale from 1 to 5.
Participants completed the instrument using printed paper forms in a classroom setting, requiring approximately 10Ae15 minutes to finish each administration.
Data were analyzed by comparing pre-test and posttest scores to determine the effect of the reduction among final-year students.
Inclusion criteria included: .
finalyear undergraduate nursing program.
actively working on thesis or final academic tasks.
willing to participate and sign informed consent.
experiencing moderate to high academic stress based on pretest scores.
Exclusion criteria were: .
students currently receiving psychological or psychiatric .
students who did not complete all intervention sessions.
individuals taking psychotropic RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1 shows the distribution of student stress data at the final level before being given mindfulness therapy and art therapy drawing.
Table 1.
Stress before the intervention Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy and Art Therapy Drawing on Stress in Final Year Students Variable Mean Median Min-Max Stress before the intervention Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy and Art Therapy Drawing on Stress in Final Year Students Triwijayanti R.
Rahmania A.
, and Husna HP.
Mindfulness and Art.
Table 2.
Stress after the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy and Art Therapy Drawing Intervention on Stress in Final Year Students Variable Mean Median Min-Max Stress after the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy Art Therapy Drawing Intervention on Stress in Final Year Students Table 3.
Normality Test Variable Kolmogrov-Sminov Statistic Pretest academic stress Post test academic stress Sig Table 4.
Difference in Average Stress of Students Undergoing Mindfulness Therapy and Art Therapy Drawing Interventions on Stress in Final Year Students Variable Mean Min Max Stress before Intervention Stress after Intervention Based on table 1, it can be seen that the mean and median values of the 41 respondents before being given the Mindfullness Effectiveness Intervention and Art Therapy Drawing on Final Year Student Stress were 148.
22 for the mean value and the median value was 149.
with a minimum score of 91 and a maximum score of 209.
p-value Based on table 3, the data normality test has been carried out using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test on the pretest obtained a sig value of .
200 and the post-test obtained a sig value of .
therefore it can be said that the data is normally distributed because the significant value is >0.
If the data is normally distributed, it is recommended to use the Parametric Alternative Paired T Test.
Based on table 2, it can be seen that the mean and median values of 41 respondents after being given the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy and Art Therapy Drawing Intervention on Final Year Student Stress were 88 and 125.
00 with a minimum score of 87 and a maximum score of Based on table 4, the results of the analysis above show the average stress effectiveness of mindfulness therapy and art therapy drawing intervention on the stress of final year students, the mean value is 148.
22, and after being given the intervention, the median value is 125.
so the results of the intervention before Dunia Keperawatan.
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001 (<0.
it can be concluded that there is an influence of the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy and art therapy drawing on the stress of final year Art therapy with the coloring method is chosen because when someone is coloring, they will automatically divert focus or concentration from the source of stress.
The emotions felt can be released or poured out through strokes of color on paper, canvas, or whatever the When successfully pouring out emotions, the negative intensity felt will slowly decrease.
All anxiety, fear, sadness will slowly decrease so that you can be more relaxed.
When this happens, stress levels will also decrease.
Stress is a natural and common occurrence in life.
Stress can also occur in an academic environment .
cademic Academic stress occurs due to the inability of students to adapt to the lecture situation .
Academic stress is a condition where students are faced with academic demands that they cannot cope with properly, thus disrupting academic progress.
Thesis is one of the academic demands where many students experience academic stress .
When someone is free to choose the color they like, there is no binding In fact, what is felt can be completely released if you choose freely.
Art Therapy combines the process of making art .
rawings, paintings, sculptures, and other art medi.
with psychotherapy methods to improve and improve the psychological well-being of individuals of all ages .
Stressful conditions that are often considered pressing will be able to be seen and interpreted differently.
Individuals no longer feel threatened by the source of stress but have clarity of thought to respond to the stress.
The awareness that arises in a mindful state will help someone see a stressful situation more clearly, so that a new perspective appears in seeing the problem and alternative solutions.
mindful state will provide awareness to individuals that they have control over their choices, thus encouraging the emergence of a responsive attitude, rather than a reactive attitude to the situation around them .
Before participating in art therapy, participants reported various academic stressors such as disappointment over academic performance, heavy workload from group assignments, and emotional During the art therapy session in this study, the participants produced drawings that symbolically reflected their emotional state and ideal self-image.
These .
ountains, villages, rice fields, and butterflie.
are original findings from this study, not from previous literatureAi indicating personal interpretations of tranquility, balance, freedom, and the desire to escape role-related pressures .
uch as expectations toward the first Mindfulness has high effectiveness which can reduce stress that experienced by students .
Mindfulness helps students manage stress through increased self-awareness, acceptance of academic pressure, and more adaptive emotional Mindfulness-based interventions can be an effective strategy in managing students' academic stress .
Participants described that the art therapy process helped them feel more consistent with previous studies showing that art-based interventions can reduce academic stress and enhance cognitive Triwijayanti R.
Rahmania A.
, and Husna HP.
Mindfulness and Art.
In the present study, two major qualitative improvements were identified.
is relatively short and the long-term effects of the intervention are not yet The limited number of samples is also an obstacle in generalizing the results to a wider population.
In the future, it is recommended to conduct further research with experimental designs and comparison groups.
First, increased self-awareness.
Through drawing, they were able to articulate the contrast between their current emotional conditionAioften overwhelmed and pressuredAiand the peaceful, balanced, or empowered self-image they aspired This reflective process indicates that processing and emotional clarification, enabling students to recognize what aspects of their academic and personal lives needed change.
RESEARCH ETHIC
This research has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee Muhammadiyah Ahmad Dahlan Palembang University No:
000911/KEP IKesT Muhammadiyah Palembang/2025.
All participants were given an explanation of the purpose and procedures of the study and signed an informed consent before participating in the study.
Second.
Exposure to creative activities allowed individuals to release tension and experience positive affect, which supported a more optimistic outlook toward completing academic Students expressed greater enthusiasm and renewed drive to pursue their goals after the intervention.
This demonstrating that art therapy can elevate mood and foster emotional resilience .
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest, either personal or institutional, in the implementation and reporting of this research.
This research was conducted independently without intervention from sponsors or interested external parties.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Overall, the qualitative findings of this study highlight that art drawing therapy not only reduces stress but also supports recognize their emotional needs and regain motivation during high-pressure academic periods.
The author would like to thank the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership for facilitating the Hibah RisetMU and Muhammadiyah Ahmad Dahlan Palembang University for supporting research facilities and permits, as well as all students who were willing to participate in this research.
LIMITATIONS
CONCLUSION
This study has limitations in terms of design that only uses one group without a control group, so it cannot completely eliminate the influence of external factors on the results of the study.
addition, the duration of the intervention Mindfulness helps individuals to see the source of stress more clearly and objectively, so that a more responsive attitude emerges than a reactive one.
Meanwhile, art therapy, especially Dunia Keperawatan.
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The combination of the two can reduce stress levels and bring individuals to a calmer and more relaxed state.
This approach can be used as an non-pharmacological management in higher education environments and it is recommended that higher education institutions consider implementing mindfulness therapy and art therapy drawing programs routinely as part of student counseling or mentoring services.
Further research can use experimental designs with control groups and expand the scope of the sample to obtain more generalist results.
REFERENCES