Anxiety reduction through art therapy in women. Exploring stress regulation and executive functioning as underlying neurocognitive mechanisms

To explore possible working mechanisms of anxiety reduction in women with anxiety disorders, treated with art therapy (AT).A RCT comparing AT versus waiting list (WL) condition on aspects of self-regulation. Stress regulation (heart rate and heart rate variability) and executive functioning (daily behavioural and cognitive performance aspects of executive functioning (EF)) were evaluated in a pre-post design. Participants were women, aged 18-65...