Abstract
BACKGROUND: Young adults are experiencing rising levels of mental health concerns and low well-being, which is exacerbated for around 20% of the population who are high in sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), a distinguishable, partly heritable trait associated with poorer mental health. However, despite this worrying increase in mental health issues among young adults, individuals who score highly on beauty appreciation tend to enjoy better well-being and improved mental and physical health. Several studies have shown that beauty appreciation can be taught and may serve as a cost-effective and enjoyable intervention strategy that can be easily implemented. METHODS: This study has two main aims: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of an art-based beauty appreciation intervention on enhancing beauty appreciation (primary outcome), and (2) to determine whether increasing beauty appreciation has a causal effect on reducing psychological distress and increasing mental well-being (secondary outcomes) when compared to an active matched control condition designed to isolate beauty appreciation skill development. To assess this, we will conduct a mixed-method randomised controlled trial (RCT) across three measurement points: enrollment, post-intervention, and a 4-week follow-up. N = 114 young adults, including those high in SPS, will be blinded and randomly allocated to the intervention or control group (~ N = 57/group). Our primary hypothesis is that the intervention condition will exhibit higher levels of beauty appreciation compared to the control group at the post-test while accounting for baseline differences. Our secondary hypotheses address mental well-being and psychological distress. A follow-up analysis will assess if individuals with high SPS can especially benefit and qualitative analysis will address mechanisms, barriers and facilitators between intervention and control, as well as in a high SPS subgroup. DISCUSSION: The study aims to provide evidence that beauty appreciation skills specifically can lead to increased well-being and decreased psychological distress by including an active matched control condition that isolates this skill development. Based on positive results, the evidence will support the implementation of such interventions for young adults and highly sensitive individuals, which would be widely accessible and easy to incorporate into day-to-day life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry Number: NCT06788496 (2024-12-22).