ArticlePeerJ2018
Achieving the impossible: a review of magic-based interventions and their effects on wellbeing.
Article in PeerJ, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- "Magical relief": the effectiveness of three stages of a video-based magic intervention on distress and pain in children aged 9-11 years during HPV mass vaccinations-a cluster-randomized trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- The real magic of magic therapy: Improving daily bimanual task performance in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2025Article
- Predictors of sense of quality of life and the moderating role of stage experience in a group of illusionists.Health psychology report · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of Two Different Behavior Modification Techniques for Anxiety Reduction in Children.Cureus · 2022Article
- An Innovative Program Using Magic to Provide Early Clinical Experiences for Preclinical Medical Students: Goals, Experiences, and Results of the MagicAid Program.Medical science educator · 2022Article
- Contribution of a virtual magic camp to enhancing self-esteem in children with ADHD: A pilot study.Health psychology research · 2021Article
- Article
- MAGNITIVE: Effectiveness and Feasibility of a Cognitive Training Program Through Magic Tricks for Children With Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. A Second Clinical Trial in Community Settings.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Article
- Article
- Development and Validation of the Hocus Focus Magic Performance Evaluation Scale for Health Professions Personnel in the United States.Journal of educational evaluation for health professions · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that involvement with mainstream performing arts, such as music and dance, can boost wellbeing. This article extends this work by reviewing little-known research on whether learning magic tricks can have an equally beneficial effect. We first present an historic overview of several magic-based interventions created by magicians, psychologists and occupational therapists. We then identify the potential benefits of such interventions, and review studies that have attempted to systematically assess these interventions. The studies have mostly revealed beneficial outcomes, but much of the work is of poor methodological quality (involving small numbers of participants and no control group), and has tended to focus on clinical populations. Finally, we present guidelines for future research in the area, emphasizing the need for more systematic and better-controlled studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.