117. The regulatory effect of multi-sensory emotion awakening clothing design on emotional disorders

Abstract Background In today’s rapidly changing society, the prevalence of emotional disorders is on the rise, including depression, anxiety and stress, etc. In recent years, fashion design is no longer limited to functionality but has gradually developed in the direction of emotional regulation. The application of multi-sensory stimulation in fashion design may provide effective regulatory means for emotional disorders by awakening emotions, enhancing self-identity and positive emotions. Therefore, the research will evaluate the effectiveness of this design concept in practical application through empirical analysis and explore the regulatory effect of multi-sensory emotion-awakening clothing design on emotional disorders. The research aims to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for future clothing design and emotional health intervention programs. Methods The study adopted a randomized controlled experimental design, recruiting a total of 120 participants with a balanced distribution of gender, age, occupation and health status. Volunteers who meet the requirements are screened through questionnaires and interviews to ensure that they do not have serious emotional disorders such as major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, with 60 participants in each group, to eliminate the influence of selection bias. The experimental group used clothing that adopted multi-sensory stimulation, including: using brightly colored and strongly contrasting fabrics and designs; Choose the appropriate fabric to provide a comfortable touch; Equip the clothing with a light and elegant fragrance to enhance the body’s emotional response. The control group wore ordinary clothing, which was not specially designed in terms of material, color or smell. Participants filled out the “Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)” and the “Self-rating Scale of Depression and Anxiety (SAS)” both before and after the experience. PANAS is used to assess participants’ scores on positive and negative emotions, while SAS measures levels of depression and anxiety. Results In the experimental results, the PANAS score of the experimental group increased from 24.1 ± 5.2 at the baseline to 38.5 ± 6.4, while that of the control group remained almost unchanged. The baseline was 24.3 ± 5.3, and after the intervention, it was 25.1 ± 5.0. The p=.202, which did not reach statistical significance. Meanwhile, in the change of SAS score in the experimental group, it decreased from 20.3 ± 4.8 to 13.2 ± 4.1, while in the control group, there was almost no change. The baseline was 20.1 ± 4.6, and after the intervention, it was 19.8 ± 4.5, with a p value of 0.088, which did not reach significance. Discussion The research results show that multi-sensory emotion-awakening clothing design can effectively enhance the positive emotions of participants and significantly reduce the levels of depression and anxiety, demonstrating the potential of such design in the regulation of mood disorders. This discovery not only provides new ideas for the field of fashion design, but also offers practical application basis for clinical mental health intervention. Future research can further explore the combination of different sensory stimuli, the differences in effects under various cultural backgrounds, and the application possibilities in other fields.