A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities demonstrates therapeutic benefits to healthy women. PLOS One. Published: July 6, 2022

“A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities demonstrates therapeutic benefits to healthy women. There is mounting anecdotal and empirical evidence that gardening and art-making afford therapeutic benefits. This randomly controlled pilot study tested the hypothesis that participation in group-based indoor gardening or art-making activities for one hour twice a week for four weeks would provide quantifiably different therapeutic benefits to a population of healthy women ages 26–49…Engaging in both gardening and art-making activities resulted in apparent therapeutic improvements for self-reported total mood disturbance, depression symptomatology, and perceived stress with different effect sizes following eight one-hour treatment sessions. Gardening also resulted in improvements for indications of trait anxiety. Based on time-course evidence, dosage responses were observed for total mood disturbance, perceived stress, and depression symptomatology for both gardening and art-making….When taken together, group-based gardening or art-making can provide quantitatively measurable improvements in healthy women’s psychosocial health status that imply potentially important public health benefits…”