Disaggregating Art Class Participation and Adolescent Mental Health in China: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Art education is increasingly recognized as a resource for adolescent mental health, yet most studies treat art class participation as a single construct and seldom test the psychological mechanisms that link it to well-being, particularly in high-pressure, collectivist East Asian contexts. This quantitative, cross-sectional study disaggregates art class participation into five dimensions—class frequency, creative practice, teacher encouragement, peer support, and art appreciation—and examines both their direct effects on the mental health of Chinese high school students and the mediating role of self-efficacy. Survey data from 400 students were analysed using reliability analysis, Pearson correlations, multiple regression, and tests of mediation (Sobel test and bias-corrected bootstrap). All five dimensions significantly predicted both mental health and self-efficacy, with creative practice showing the strongest direct effect on mental health. Self-efficacy partially mediated every pathway, accounting for roughly half to two-thirds of each total effect. The findings indicate that the well-being benefits of art education are multidimensional and operate partly through enhanced self-efficacy, supporting the integration of art classes into school-based mental health strategies.