Arts and crafts boost mental wellbeing - study

Creative activities are as beneficial to life satisfaction as having a job - if not more, researchers have found.

Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) used data from a major national survey to investigate the impact of taking part in activities, such as arts and crafts.

They found that creativity had as great an influence on participants' wellbeing and happiness as sociodemographic factors like age and health.

Dr Helen Keyes from ARU, which is based in Essex and Cambridgeshire, said: "The impact of crafting was bigger than the impact of being in employment."

Dr Keyes, who heads the ARU's school of psychology and sports science, said: "Not only does crafting give us a sense of achievement, it is also a meaningful route to self-expression. This is not always the case with employment."

The scientists analysed a sample of 7,182 participants from the annual Taking Part survey, conducted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Participants were asked to rate their sensations of happiness, anxiety and life satisfaction, and to give their impression of whether life was worthwhile.

When asked about their engagement with crafts, 37.4% of respondents confirmed they had taken part in at least one craft activity in the last 12 months, ARU said.

The university said people who took part in arts and crafts reported higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction, as well as a stronger sense that life was worthwhile.

The boost to respondents' sense that life was worthwhile was as significant as being in employment, ARU added.

Dr Keyes said: "The wellbeing effects were present even after we accounted for things like employment status and level of deprivation. It seems that crafting can contribute positively to your wellbeing above and beyond these other aspects of your life."

The study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.

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