Calligraphy and meditation for stress reduction: an experimental comparison

Figures & data

Figure 1 Standard treatment procedure for calligraphy and meditation.

Notes: Stroop test is a demonstration of interference in the reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (eg, “blue,” “green,” or “red”) is printed in a color not denoted by the name (eg, the word “red” printed in blue ink instead of red ink). Participants are asked to identify the printed color. It will arouse some stress states after finishing the Stroop test.
Abbreviations: mins, minutes; secs, seconds.

Table 1 Demographics and baseline measures by treatment group

	CCH group (n=10)	Meditation group (n=10)	Control group (n=10)	P-value*
Age, years mean (SD)	24.30 (4.76)	25.00 (4.47)	25.60 (4.88)	0.827
Sex	10	10	10	0.581
Male	5	5	3
Female	5	5	7
GHQ, mean (SD)
Total	1.08 (0.41)	1.13 (0.60)	1.43 (0.66)	0.347
Somatic symptoms	1.13 (0.52)	1.40 (0.82)	1.72 (0.87)	0.223
Anxiety and insomnia	1.29 (0.62)	1.10 (0.87)	1.85 (0.88)	0.108
Social dysfunction	1.09 (0.29)	1.36 (0.48)	1.26 (0.46)	0.353
Severe depression	0.81 (0.47)	0.70 (0.67)	0.87 (0.61)	0.804
Physiological parameters
HR	86.55 (9.39)	76.70 (7.72)	82.30 (8.24)	0.049*
EMG	7.14 (8.69)	3.75 (1.52)	3.54 (1.89)	0.239
ST	31.15 (4.90)	33.43 (1.40)	33.38 (1.79)	0.194
RR	12.99 (6.13)	17.08 (9.00)	15.76 (4.65)	0.405

Note:

* P<0.05.

Abbreviations: GHQ, General Health Questionnaire; HR, heart rate; EMG, electromyography; ST skin temperature; RR, respiratory rate; SD, standard deviation; CCH, Chinese calligraphic handwriting.

Figure 2 Heart rate pre- and post-treatment for the three groups.

Abbreviation: CCH, Chinese calligraphic handwriting.

Table 2 Repeated-measures analysis of variance on significant physiological arousal parameters

Effects	F	df	P-value	Effect size
HR
Pre-post	10.960	1.27	0.003	0.289
Pre-post × group	5.436	2.27	0.010	0.287
EMG
Pre-post	0.838	1.27	0.368	0.03
Pre-post × group	3.620	2.27	0.04	0.211
ST
Pre-post	10.540	1.27	0.003	0.281
Pre-post × group	3.981	2.27	0.031	0.228
RR
Pre-post	18.887	1.27	0.000	0.412
Pre-post × group	16.383	2.27	0.000	0.548

Abbreviations: HR, heart rate; EMG, electromyography; ST, skin temperature; RR, respiratory rate.

Figure 3 Electromyograghic (EMG) pre- and post-treatment for three groups.

Abbreviation: CCH, Chinese calligraphic handwriting.

Figure 4 Skin temperature (ST) pre- and post-treatment for three groups.

Abbreviation: CCH, Chinese calligraphic handwriting.

Figure 5 Respiration rate (RR) pre- and post-treatment for the three groups.

Abbreviation: CCH, Chinese calligraphic handwriting.