Benefits of Coloring for Adults: 45 Facts From Recent Research (2026)

Does coloring reduce stress and anxiety?

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Short answer: yes, in the short term, in most studies — with honest caveats below.

What the latest reviews say

• A 2026 meta-analysis of 17 studies (987 hospitalized adults) found mandala coloring reduced anxiety and stress, with sessions of 30 minutes or less working well, but rated the evidence low quality (Pehlivan & Dalli, BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 2026).
• A 2025 meta-analysis of 17 studies (1,548 students) found mindfulness-based art activities, including mandala coloring, reduced student anxiety by a small-to-moderate amount (Zhu et al., Behavioral Sciences, 2025).
• A 2025 systematic review of 14 randomized trials (1,686 adults) found every one reported greater anxiety reduction with visual art activities such as drawing, painting or coloring than with controls (Mizera & Krysta, Psychiatria Danubina, 2025).
• A 2024 systematic review found only 11 studies (405 patients) on mandala art and judged its benefits for patients' wellbeing still uncertain (Zhang, Liu & Huang, Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 2024).
• A 2022 meta-analysis of eight studies (578 adults) found mandala coloring did not reduce anxiety more than free drawing (Jakobsson Støre & Jakobsson, Art Therapy, 2022).

Students and everyday stress

• In a 2026 study of 297 university students, six or more coloring sessions over two weeks were linked to lower stress, anxiety and depression symptoms, and digital coloring worked as well as paper (Palmer-Cooper et al., Journal of Mental Health, 2026).
• In a 2024 University of Southampton study, 140 students who colored for at least 10 minutes six times in two weeks improved on every wellbeing, stress, anxiety, depression and mindfulness measure; there was no control group (Palmer-Cooper et al., Arts & Health, 2024).
• In a 2023 poll of 2,202 US adults, 46% said they use creative activities to relieve stress or anxiety (American Psychiatric Association / Morning Consult, 2023).
• Earlier landmark studies: in a widely cited 2005 experiment, 84 students who colored a mandala or a plaid pattern for 20 minutes had a bigger drop in anxiety than those who colored a blank page (Curry & Kasser, Art Therapy, 2005).
• In a 2017 experiment with 85 students, coloring with freely chosen colors reduced anxiety more than copying the colors of a finished picture (Eaton & Tieber, Art Therapy, 2017).
• In a 2017 New Zealand trial with 104 women students, daily coloring for a week lowered depressive symptoms and anxiety, while logic puzzles did not (Flett et al., Creativity Research Journal, 2017).

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What happens in your body when you color?

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• In a 2026 trial of 90 heart patients, mandala coloring before coronary angiography lowered anxiety and stress, and blood cortisol fell after the procedure; heart rate and blood pressure did not differ from the control group (Kandemir et al., Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 2026).
• A 2026 lab study of 60 students found digital mandala coloring reduced anxiety as much as paper and lowered heart rate and skin conductance more (Li et al., Frontiers in Public Health, 2026).
• In a 2026 EEG trial, 20 minutes of mandala coloring increased frontal alpha brain activity linked with relaxed focus, though anxiety fell just as much when students colored a plain circle (Chang et al., Consortium Psychiatricum, 2026).
• A 2026 scoping review found six studies in healthy adults reporting lower stress markers — heart rate, skin conductance, salivary cortisol — after art therapy (Moezzi et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2026).
• Earlier landmark study: in a 2016 Drexel University study, 45 minutes of art making lowered cortisol in about 75% of 39 adults, whatever their art experience (Kaimal, Ray & Muniz, Art Therapy, 2016).

Is coloring a form of mindfulness or meditation?

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Not on its own.

• A 2018 UK experiment found unguided mandala coloring produced no change in mindfulness or anxiety among 88 students compared with free drawing (Mantzios & Giannou, Frontiers in Psychology, 2018).
• In the second experiment of the same 2018 paper, 72 students who colored while a mindfulness practitioner guided them aloud lowered their anxiety more than unguided colorers, but their mindfulness scores did not rise (Mantzios & Giannou, 2018).
• A 2017 study of 70 people put in a sad mood found coloring was the only activity tested that produced greater "flow" (Forkosh & Drake, Art Therapy, 2017).

Can coloring help during pregnancy and after birth?

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All from small Turkish trials, several by the same research group.

• In a 2025 randomized trial, first-time mothers who added mandala coloring to antenatal classes reported less fear of childbirth than women who took the classes alone (Topcu & Bingöl, Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 2025).
• In a 2024 randomized trial of 77 first-time pregnant women, coloring mandalas twice a week for a month lowered pregnancy-related anxiety, though general anxiety scores did not differ (Şolt Kırca & Dağlı, European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2024).
• New mothers who colored mandalas for two weeks had fewer postpartum blues and depression symptoms than mothers who did not, in a 2026 trial of 77 women (Dutucu, Kırca & Dağlı, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2026).
• Mothers of babies in neonatal intensive care who colored mandalas had lower stress and anxiety within a week than mothers who did not, in a 2025 trial of 72 women (Akça & Aytekin Özdemir, Advances in Neonatal Care, 2025).
• Women in the menopausal transition who colored mandalas had lower anxiety and better menopause-related quality of life than controls, in a 2024 trial of 76 women (Kırca et al., Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2024).
• University women with PMS who colored mandalas saw symptom scores fall from about 155 to 113, while controls stayed near 162, in a 2026 trial of 80 women (Derin & Şolt Kirca, Holistic Nursing Practice, 2026).

Does coloring help hospital and cancer patients?

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• A 2026 network meta-analysis of 28 studies and 2,542 cancer survivors found mandala painting significantly reduced depression and improved quality of life (Wang et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2026).
• A 2025 review of 11 studies found mandala painting improved cancer patients' quality of life and eased negative emotions, but not pain or fear of recurrence (Chen et al., Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025).
• Burn patients who colored a mandala for 30 minutes before a dressing change had less anxiety and pain afterwards, while anxiety rose in those who did not, in a 2024 trial of 60 patients (Sadeqi et al., Scars, Burns & Healing, 2024).
• Hip-replacement patients who did a 30-minute mandala session two days after surgery reported less anxiety and pain, in a 2026 trial of 84 patients (Ulubay & Alptekin, Pain Management Nursing, 2026).
• Hospital patients with type 2 diabetes who colored one mandala a day for a week had lower stress and anxiety than those given routine care, in a 2026 trial of 92 patients (Bahcecioğlu Turan & Aslan, Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 2026).
• In a 2026 trial of 82 women on hemodialysis, 20–30 minutes of mandala coloring a week for eight weeks reduced symptom burden and improved self-care (Aydin & Bakir, Geriatric Nursing, 2026).
• Cancer patients who colored mandalas for 30 minutes during chemotherapy had less severe acute nausea, in a small 2024 trial of 38 patients (Çelik & Kin, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2024).
• In a 2025 trial of 84 veterans with PTSD, mandala and free coloring (15 minutes, twice a week for three weeks) both reduced symptoms, mandalas more (Nasiri et al., Holistic Nursing Practice, 2025).
• In a 2025 trial of 105 palliative-care caregivers, coloring mandalas twice a week for a month cut caregiver-burden scores from 34.5 to 13.8, while burden rose in the control group (Baykal et al., Psychology, Health & Medicine, 2025).

Is coloring good for older adults?

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• A 2026 meta-analysis of nine randomized trials (648 people aged 55 and over) linked mandala-based art, including coloring, with lower anxiety and depressive symptoms, at very low certainty (Liu et al., Frontiers in Psychology, 2026).
• In a 2026 trial of 80 nursing-home residents, mandala coloring three times a week for 12 weeks lowered anger and death anxiety (Dincer et al., Geriatric Nursing, 2026).
• A 2024 trial with 69 adults over 50 found that, for people less at ease with technology, paper coloring lowered death anxiety more than coloring on a screen (Roh et al., Art Therapy, 2024).
• A 2023 study of 93,263 people aged 65+ in 16 countries linked having a hobby with fewer depressive symptoms and greater happiness and life satisfaction (Mak … Fancourt, Nature Medicine, 2023).
• In a seven-year US study of 4,344 older adults, doing arts activities such as painting or crafts for up to an hour a week was linked to better later thinking skills (executive function) (Bone et al., Creativity Research Journal, 2023).
• In 3,556 UK adults, arts and cultural engagement was linked to slower biological ageing on three of seven epigenetic clocks, comparable to physical activity (2026) (Fancourt et al., Innovation in Aging, 2026).
• Earlier landmark study: in a 2011 Japanese trial with 39 people with mild Alzheimer's disease, 12 weekly coloring and drawing sessions improved apathy scores within the art group, and more art-group patients improved in quality of life than those given calculation drills (Hattori et al., Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 2011).

Does coloring help you sleep?

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• In a 2025 Thai study, 35 older adults with sleep problems slept significantly better after a six-week program built around mandala coloring; it also taught sleep habits and had no control group (Makkabphalanon et al., Patient Preference and Adherence, 2025).

We found no controlled study showing that coloring at bedtime improves adult sleep on its own.

How many adults color?

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• 20% of adults in England did painting, drawing, printmaking, calligraphy or coloring in 2024/25, up from 19% in 2023/24 (DCMS Participation Survey, 2025).
• A 2024 study of 7,182 adults in England found the 37% who made art or did crafts reported higher life satisfaction and happiness, and the boost to feeling life is worthwhile was larger than that of having a job (Keyes et al., Frontiers in Public Health, 2024).
• In a 2015 Nielsen survey, 71% of US adult coloring book buyers were women, and the largest age group was 18–29 (Nielsen, 2016).