Artmaking Across Media: An Expressive Therapies Continuum Perspective on Stress Reduction Through Artmaking with Digital vs. Traditional Materials

Artmaking is recognized as an effective means of supporting emotional regulation and reducing stress, yet little empirical work has directly compared the psychological and physiological effects of digital versus traditional art materials. Guided by the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), this study examined whether drawing with oil pastels on paper or drawing on a digital tablet differentially influenced emotional state, physiological stress, and subjective creative experience following a validated group stress induction. Forty-eight healthy adult women were randomly assigned to create art for 45 min using either oil pastels or a tablet with a digital stylus. Measures included state anxiety, salivary cortisol, emotional valence, arousal, dominance, flow experience, and artmaking experience. Both modalities produced significant reductions in state anxiety, with no differences between groups. Emotional responses also changed significantly from pre- to post-artmaking, again without between-group differences. Cortisol levels did not significantly decrease in either condition, and no differences emerged across flow dimensions or artmaking experience scales. These findings indicate that tablet-based and traditional oil pastel drawing generate comparable emotional and experiential benefits following acute stress. Interpreted through the ETC, results suggest that therapeutic mechanisms of artmaking may be activated across a wider range of media than previously assumed. Digital tools appear capable of facilitating sensory–affective and integrative processes often attributed to traditional materials, thereby supporting their integration into trauma-informed practice.