Several randomized trials and two 2026 meta-analyses link coloring, especially mandala coloring, to lower short-term anxiety and stress. The certainty of that evidence is rated low or very low; most trials are small and short, and only one trial has tested coloring in patients with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, as an add-on to usual care. This guide sorts each popular claim about adult coloring by how strong the evidence is, so readers can see what research supports and what it does not.
The evidence below comes from peer-reviewed trials and reviews on PubMed, checked in October 2026, plus one U.S. government health page. Claims with no study behind them are called out as such, and sections marked editorial reflect the view of ColoringPagesOnly, not research.
How the Ratings Work
Each claim gets one of five ratings. Supported means more than one study, or a review of several, found the effect, even when confidence in the result is low. Early means a single study found it, and nobody has repeated it. Plausible means the idea fits the known science, but the coloring itself has not been tested for it. Mixed means studies disagree or cannot isolate coloring. Not shown means nothing was found, or studies found no effect.
What Is Coloring Therapy?
Coloring therapy is a common name for using coloring as a calming activity. It is not the same as art therapy, which is delivered by a trained art therapist, and it does not replace mental health care. The most direct evidence comes from two randomized crossover experiments with university students (47 and 52 participants). In both, coloring lowered anxiety and raised mindfulness compared with a control task (Holt, Furbert, and Sweetingham, 2019). The samples were small and young, so the result supports a short-term calming effect, not a treatment claim.
The Evidence in One Table
| Claim | Rating | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Coloring lowers short-term anxiety | Supported, low certainty | Randomized trials in students, older adults, and women in menopause found lower anxiety, and two 2026 meta-analyses agree. Certainty is graded low or very low |
| Coloring added to usual care helps with generalized anxiety disorder | Early | One randomized trial of 88 patients found lower anxiety scores after 3 weeks when coloring was added to the usual treatment |
| Coloring lowers stress in hospitalized adults | Supported, low certainty | A meta-analysis of 17 studies found lower stress and anxiety, and higher well-being and hope |
| Coloring lowers depressive symptoms | Mixed | A meta-analysis of mandala-based art in adults aged 55 and over found lower depressive symptoms, with very low certainty |
| Mandalas work better than other coloring | Mixed | Results differ between studies |
| Coloring lowers stress hormones | Plausible | One study found lower cortisol after art making, but it was not limited to coloring |
| Coloring reduces pain, fatigue, or nausea | Not shown | The hospital meta-analysis found no significant effect on these |
| Coloring improves sleep | Early | One uncontrolled 2025 study of 35 older adults found better sleep scores after a six-week program that used mandala coloring |
| Coloring improves memory or work productivity | Not shown | No coloring-specific study found |
| Coloring replaces therapy or medication | Not shown | No study tested this |
Anxiety
Rating: Supported, low certainty. The most cited study is a 2005 trial in the journal Art Therapy by Curry and Kasser. As summarized by a later study, it randomly assigned 84 undergraduates and found that anxiety fell more after coloring a mandala or a plaid pattern than after free-form drawing. A 2012 replication by van der Vennet and Serice, with 50 students, found the effect for the mandala but not for the plaid design.
Newer trials agree on the direction, with caveats:
- Older adults in Taiwan (2020). Koo, Chen, and Yeh randomly assigned 120 adults aged 55 to 75 to 20 minutes of mandala coloring, plaid coloring, free-form drawing, or reading. After a short anxiety induction, only the mandala group had significantly lower anxiety than the reading group.
- College students (2016). Sandmire and colleagues tested 47 first-year students before final exams in 30-minute sessions of free-form painting, mandala coloring, clay modeling, and a control. Heart rate variability showed greater anxiety reduction in all three art sessions than in the control session. On the students’ own anxiety ratings, only free-form painting was significantly better than the control.
- Patients with generalized anxiety disorder (2022). Samuel and colleagues randomly assigned 88 patients. The control group (45 patients) received conventional antianxiety medication and physical therapy, and the experimental group (43 patients) received coloring therapy on top of that. After three weeks, scores on two anxiety scales fell more in the coloring group. The difference in depression scores was not significant. It is a single trial with a short follow-up, and coloring was tested as an add-on, not a replacement.
- Women in menopause (2024). In a randomized trial in Turkey by Kırca and colleagues, 76 women were split evenly between mandala coloring and a control group. The coloring group had lower anxiety and better menopause-specific quality of life afterward.
Two 2026 reviews pool the trials. A meta-analysis of 9 trials with 648 adults aged 55 and over, by Liu and colleagues, found lower anxiety and lower depressive symptoms after mandala-based art interventions. The authors rate the certainty of the evidence as very low and call the findings preliminary. That review counts open-ended drawing and painting as well as structured coloring.
Stress and Well-Being
Rating: Supported, low certainty. A 2026 meta-analysis in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies by Pehlivan and Erbay Dalli pooled 17 studies with 987 hospitalized adults. Mandala coloring significantly reduced anxiety and stress and improved well-being and hope. The review found no significant effect on resilience, pain, fatigue, nausea, comfort, or vital signs, and it grades the certainty of the evidence as low. Brief sessions of 30 minutes or less, and repeated sessions, were especially effective for anxiety.
Mood and Depressive Symptoms
Rating: Mixed. The same older adult meta-analysis found lower depressive symptoms, with very low certainty and high variation between trials. A 2024 trial by Nasiri and colleagues in 84 hospitalized male veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in Iran compared mandala coloring with free coloring of squares, twice a week for three weeks. Happiness scores rose in both groups, and rose more in the mandala group. The trial had no group that did not color, so it cannot show that coloring itself raised happiness.
Do Mandalas Work Better?
Rating: Mixed. The studies above point in different directions. Curry and Kasser found mandala and plaid coloring both beat free-form drawing. The replication found only the mandala did. Koo and colleagues found that only the mandala group beat the control. Sandmire’s students showed a benefit from several kinds of art making, and the veterans trial favored mandalas over free coloring. A mandala may help in some settings, and the research does not yet show that it is better in general.
Stress Hormones
Rating: Plausible. A 2016 study in Art Therapy by Kaimal and colleagues measured cortisol in saliva samples from 39 healthy adults before and after 45 minutes of art making. Cortisol was significantly lower afterward. The study looked at art making with a choice of media, not coloring alone, and its design was before and after art making, so it does not isolate coloring.
Sleep
Rating: Early. A 2025 study in Patient Preference and Adherence by Bangkok researchers followed 35 older adults with sleep problems through a six-week mindfulness-based art therapy program that used mandala coloring. Sleep scores improved at six weeks and at ten weeks. The study had one group and no comparison group, so it cannot show that coloring was responsible, and the program included more than coloring.
What the Research Does Not Show
- Pain, fatigue, and nausea. The hospital meta-analysis found no significant effect.
- Memory and workplace productivity. Searches of PubMed for this article found no study of coloring and memory or work productivity.
- Replacing treatment. No study tested coloring as a substitute for therapy or medication.
Limits of the Evidence
- Many trials are small and last 20 to 30 minutes, so they measure short-term change, not lasting benefit.
- Several were done in hospitals, in other countries, or with college students, so results may not apply to every adult.
- In the Taiwan trial, anxiety was first induced by asking participants to recall a frightening event, and the authors note that chronic anxiety was not tested. They also used one mandala design.
- Meta-analyses combine very different studies, and both 2026 reviews grade their certainty as low or very low.
Using Coloring Well
These suggestions are editorial, not research findings.
- Short sessions of 20 to 30 minutes match what most of the trials tested.
- Patterned designs such as mandalas are the most studied. Mindfulness, anxiety, and mental health collections offer other themes.
- The coloring tips guide covers tools and techniques, and the Adult Coloring Pages collection has pages by theme. For children, see the evidence guide for kids.
- For a step by step routine, see the mindful coloring guide.
When Coloring Is Not Enough
Coloring can be a calm activity, but it is not a treatment. If anxiety or low mood affects sleep, work, or daily life, talk to a doctor or a mental health professional. The National Institute of Mental Health lists ways to find help and support, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which can be reached by calling or texting 988. In a life-threatening situation, call 911.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is coloring good for adults?
Yes, as a calming activity, and some trials link it to lower short-term anxiety. The certainty of that evidence is low or very low, and coloring has been tested as a treatment for an anxiety disorder in only one small trial, as an add-on to usual care.
Does coloring reduce anxiety?
Yes, in the short term, in several randomized trials, and two 2026 meta-analyses agree. The trials were small, most lasted 20 to 30 minutes, and one meta-analysis rates the certainty as very low.
Does mandala coloring work better than other coloring?
Sometimes, but not consistently. Two trials found mandala coloring beat free-form drawing or a control, one replication found it beat plaid coloring, and in other studies, several kinds of art making helped about equally.
How long should I color to feel calmer?
The adult trials described here used sessions of about 20 to 30 minutes. A meta-analysis of hospitalized adults found that sessions of 30 minutes or less, and repeated sessions, were especially effective for anxiety. No study sets a dose that suits everyone.
Can coloring replace therapy or medication?
No. The one trial in patients with generalized anxiety disorder tested coloring added to usual treatment, not instead of it, and the rest of the evidence shows short-term changes in mood and anxiety. Speak with a health professional about persistent symptoms.
Is coloring good for older adults?
Yes, in the studies found. A trial of 120 adults aged 55 to 75 in Taiwan found lower anxiety after 20 minutes of mandala coloring than after reading, and a 2026 meta-analysis of 9 trials in adults aged 55 and over found lower anxiety and depressive symptoms, with very low certainty.
Does coloring help with depression?
Possibly, but the evidence is preliminary. A meta-analysis of older adults found lower depressive symptoms after mandala-based art, with very low certainty, and a trial with veterans found higher happiness scores after both mandala and free coloring.
What does research say about coloring and sleep?
One 2025 study of 35 older adults with sleep problems in Bangkok found better sleep scores after a six-week mindfulness-based art therapy program that used mandala coloring. The study had no comparison group, so it cannot show that the coloring was responsible. No controlled trial of coloring alone for sleep turned up in the searches run for this guide.
Sources
- Curry, N. A., Kasser, T. “Can Coloring Mandalas Reduce Anxiety?” Art Therapy, 2005;22(2):81-85: https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441
- Holt, N. J., Furbert, L., Sweetingham, E., “Cognitive and Affective Benefits of Coloring: Two Randomized Controlled Crossover Studies,” Art Therapy, 2019;36(4):200-208: https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1645498
- van der Vennet, R., Serice, S., “Can Coloring Mandalas Reduce Anxiety? A Replication Study,” Art Therapy, 2012;29(2):87-92: https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2012.680047
- Koo, M., Chen, H. P., Yeh, Y. C., “Coloring Activities for Anxiety Reduction and Mood Improvement in Taiwanese Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Study,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2020:6964737 (summarizes sources 1 and 2): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32063986/
- Sandmire, D. A., Rankin, N. E., Gorham, S. R., Eggleston, D. T., et al., “Psychological and autonomic effects of art making in college-aged students,” Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 2016;29(5):561-569: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26222010/
- Şolt Kırca, A., Dağlı, E., Derin, E., Aka, N., “The effect of mandala coloring on anxiety and quality of life of women in the climacteric period: a randomized controlled study,” Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2024;70(6):e20240059: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39045964/
- Nasiri, M.-A., Sajadi, S. A., Farsi, Z., Heidarieh, M., “The effect of mandala coloring and free coloring on the happiness in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in the Covid-19 pandemic: a randomized clinical trial,” BMC Psychiatry, 2024;24(1):467: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38918742/
- Kaimal, G., Ray, K., Muniz, J., “Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants’ Responses Following Art Making,” Art Therapy, 2016;33(2):74-80: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27695158/
- Pehlivan, S., Erbay Dalli, Ö., “The effectiveness of mandala coloring on the psychological and physiological symptoms in adult hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis,” BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 2026;26(1):220: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42104345/
- Liu, L., Hu, H., Xu, J., Liu, Y., “Mandala-based art interventions for anxiety and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Frontiers in Psychology, 2026;17:1877910: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42459622/
- National Institute of Mental Health, “Anxiety Disorders” (find help and support; last reviewed December 2024): https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
- Samuel, B., Wang, H., Shi, C., Pan, Y., Yu, Y., “The effects of coloring therapy on patients with generalized anxiety disorder,” Animal Models and Experimental Medicine, 2022;5(6):502-512: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35794728/
- Sleep study, “The Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program on Sleep Quality among Urban Older Adults in Thailand: A Quasi-Experimental Study,” Patient Preference and Adherence, 2025;19:3183-3195: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41127041/
