The Intervention Effect of Mandala Painting Group Psychological Counseling on Social Anxiety of Higher Vocational College Students in Railway Colleges

Objective: To investigate the intervention effect of mandala painting group psychological counseling on social anxiety of higher vocational college students in a railway college in Shaanxi Province. Methods: From September to December 2024, an experimental design with pre-test, post-test 2-month follow-up test was adopted. A total of 64 higher vocational college students from a railway college (32 in the intervention group and 32 in the control group) were given mandala painting group psychological counseling intervention and tests. Results: (1) Among the tested students, 37.08% (132/356) had mild interpersonal distress, and 12.92% (46/356) had severe interpersonal distress, the social anxiety score was 14.328 ± 6.053, which was at a moderately high level overall; (2) The pre-test and post-test results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in social anxiety scores of the control group (t = 0.815, p > 0.05), while the social anxiety scores of the intervention group decreased significantly, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (t = 4.627, p < 0.01); (3) There was a significant inter-group difference in social anxiety scores between the intervention group and the control group before and after the intervention (t = 5.264, p < 0.01); (4) There was no statistically significant difference between the post-test scores and the 2-month follow-up test scores of the intervention group (t = -0.225, p > 0.05). Conclusion: Mandala painting group psychological counseling is significantly effective in reducing the social anxiety level of higher vocational college students in railway colleges and can maintain stable intervention effects, providing an effective approach for the intervention of social anxiety in this group.