ReviewFrontiers in psychology2021
Art Therapy: A Complementary Treatment for Mental Disorders.
Review in Frontiers in psychology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
46 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 154 citations in OpenAlex.
- Film education and art therapy for mental health in college students: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of different art therapies on the psychological well-being and quality of life in cancer survivors: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of dance activities on social skills and related behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Dance/movement therapy in psychotic disorders and eating disorders: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of the art therapy interventions to alleviate depression symptoms among children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2025Pooled it
- Healing potential of art therapy: a narrative review of neuro-psycho-cultural mechanisms in mental health.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of art therapy interventions on anxiety in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Pooled it
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceived Acceptability of Art Therapy Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Nanjing, China.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- The Impact of Art-Based Interventions on Emotional Regulation in Chinese Children with Autism: A Drawing Therapy Approach.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- A review on mental health challenges and interventions in the context of pandemics, terrorism, war and armed conflicts.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Evaluating the Impact of Integrative Art Therapies on Psychological Well-Being in Pediatric Oncology: A Single-Group Pre-Post Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Article
- A randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of art therapy and mindfulness on depression, anxiety, and stress among elderly people living in old age homes in Salem district, Tamil Nadu.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- Effects of Mandala Coloring on Alpha Brain Activity and Anxiety Symptoms among Students at Universiti Sains Malaysia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Consortium psychiatricum · 2026Article
- Multimodal art intervention for flourishing in lonely university students: psychological and exploratory neurophysiological outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Music performance anxiety beyond coping: toward a creative arts perspective in higher music education.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Perceived impact of a homeless shelter-based art program on stress, social connection, and emotional regulation: a mixed-methods pilot study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Cost and Budget Impact of Layering Depression Care Onto Existing HIV and Noncommunicable Disease Care Services in Western Kenya.Value in health regional issues · 2025Article
- A Family Camp for Families Where a Parent Experiences Mental Health Challenges: A Qualitative Evaluation.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Reducing State and Trait Anxiety Through Art Therapy in Adolescents with Eating Disorders: Results from a Pilot Repeated-Measures Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Art therapy, as a non-pharmacological medical complementary and alternative therapy, has been used as one of medical interventions with good clinical effects on mental disorders. However, systematically reviewed in detail in clinical situations is lacking. Here, we searched on PubMed for art therapy in an attempt to explore its theoretical basis, clinical applications, and future perspectives to summary its global pictures. Since drawings and paintings have been historically recognized as a useful part of therapeutic processes in art therapy, we focused on studies of art therapy which mainly includes painting and drawing as media. As a result, a total of 413 literature were identified. After carefully reading full articles, we found that art therapy has been gradually and successfully used for patients with mental disorders with positive outcomes, mainly reducing suffering from mental symptoms. These disorders mainly include depression disorders and anxiety, cognitive impairment and dementias, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and autism. These findings suggest that art therapy can not only be served as an useful therapeutic method to assist patients to open up and share their feelings, views, and experiences, but also as an auxiliary treatment for diagnosing diseases to help medical specialists obtain complementary information different from conventional tests. We humbly believe that art therapy has great potential in clinical applications on mental disorders to be further explored.
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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.