Impact of Colours in Classroom Interiors on Mental Health Undergraduates With Reference to Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Levels

Depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms are alarmingly increasing among university student populations and may have a major impact on achieving their academic and life goals. It is seen that in most cases the student’s academic performance, health, and quality of life is negatively impacted as a result. Research suggests that Architectural elements have an impact on mental distresses and individual wellbeing. This research attempted to address the above concern by focusing on the impact of colour, as an Architectural element, on psychiatric imbalances among Undergraduates with special consideration on depression, anxiety, and stress levels. The study was conducted with 36 participants from the Department of Architecture of the University of Moratuwa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic's travel limitations, the study was conducted remotely through Zoom online conferencing platform and non-immersive virtual mode under three selected colour conditions (tints of green, blue, and red) with the aid of DASS-21 scale to evaluate stress, anxiety, and depression levels. Colour red was found to induce the most adverse impacts on stress, anxiety, and depression levels, whereas green indicated a comparatively low adverse impact. Blue had the slightest adverse impact on depression and anxiety with a slightly favourable impact on reducing stress. The findings of this study suggests that the incorporation of appropriate colours in design interventions could facilitate the creation of better classroom interiors in order to address depression, anxiety and stress related disorders of undergraduates. Further investigations in physical mode, incorporating a larger sample and other subject streams is recommended.