Surviving to thriving: The impact of an arts intervention on the wellbeing of women who have experienced sexual violence

Grace, Pippa; Holt, Nicola; Halliwell, Emma

Abstract

The study evaluated the impact of a programme of creative workshop on the well-being and mood of 25 women (average age = 41, range = 20-57) who had experienced sexual violence, run through SARSAS (www.sarsas.org.uk). A pre-post evaluation was conducted that examined mood improvement as a process of change. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS; Tennant et al., 2007) was completed at the beginning and end of the programme. This assesses psychological wellbeing, such as feeling connected to others and being able to think clearly. A minimum ‘meaningful change’ in scores has been defined as an increase of three points, and a score of 44 or less indicative of possible depression. In addition, the Short Mood Scale (Wilhelm & Schoebi, 2007) was completed at the beginning and end of each workshop. This measured contentment (feeling content rather than depressed); anxiety (feeling anxious rather than relaxed); and alertness (feeling energetic rather than sluggish).

Multi-level modelling was used to assess change in WEMWBS scores from the first to final art workshop. There was a meaningful and significant average increase of 7.85 points (F(1,21) = 32.19, p < .001), increasing from 36.57 to 44.42 (out of the range of possible depression). Further, there was a significant improvement on all three dimensions of mood after taking part in the art workshops. Participants with greater mood improvement also had greater increases in wellbeing across the programme: reduced anxiety (F = 15.27, p < .001); increased contentment (F = 11.26, p < .001); and increased alertness (F = 7.60, p = .006). This suggests that the wellbeing change was linked directly to the art workshops. Our results indicate that arts interventions are an acceptable and effective intervention for women who are struggling with a history of sexual violence. However, more research is needed. For example, longer-term follow-up should be included to explore the stability of these changes.

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: Sexual Violence and Health Research Day
• Start Date: Nov 29, 2021
• End Date: Nov 29, 2021
• Deposit Date: Nov 26, 2021
• Keywords: Art and health, wellbeing, sexual violence
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/8180374