Table 1_Aesthetic experience as a candidate process linking group art therapy to social anxiety relief: a randomized trial with repeated process assessment.docx

Group art therapy (GAT) offers an externally focused, materially mediated mode of engagement, but its active processes remain uncertain.</p>Methods<p>In an assessor-blinded, two-arm randomized trial, 120 students with elevated social anxiety were assigned to eight weekly sessions of GAT or a structurally matched supportive discussion group (SDG).

Clinical outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up; an adapted AEQ-derived session score and two study-specific cognitive process measures were assessed after each session and analyzed exploratorily.</p>Results<p>GAT produced larger LSAS-SR reductions at post-intervention (adjusted difference = −9.5, 95% CI [−15.3, −3.7], d = 0.63) and follow-up (−10.9, 95% CI [−16.7, −5.1], d = 0.71).