{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T07:04:57Z","timestamp":1784790297391,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Depression is among the leading causes of disability globally. Therefore, exploring the various non-medical treatment options for this condition is particularly important. The aim of the review was to assess the effect of art therapy on depressive symptoms.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The foundation of this review is a pre-planned, explorative, secondary analysis of a previously published umbrella review, encompassing the databases Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, American Psychological Association PsycArticles, American Psychological Association PsycInfo, PSYNDEX, the German Clinical Trials Register, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Included were all randomized trials with any patient population receiving active visual art therapy. The outcome was depressive symptoms measured by depression assessment instruments. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and conducted a bias assessment using a modified Cochrane risk of bias tool. Data was pooled using a random-effects model and visualized in forest plots. A pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with hedges g was calculated to measure the reduction of depressive symptoms.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 3,100 identified reports we included 26 studies. Of these, 19 studies with 997 patients were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Overall, we found a standardized mean difference of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.30 to 0.76) for depressive symptoms, favoring the intervention group. Main sources of variation were different types of control groups, methodological quality, and patient populations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our results suggest that art therapy is associated with improved depressive symptoms. Therefore, art therapy should be accessible as complementary treatment for patients suffering from depressive symptoms.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1789633","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T06:21:48Z","timestamp":1784787708000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Art therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Ronja","family":"Joschko","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charit\u00e9 \u2013 University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Roll","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charit\u00e9 \u2013 University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]},{"name":"Institute for Biostatistics and Informatics in Medicine and Aging Research, Universit\u00e4t Rostock","place":["Rostock, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weronika A.","family":"Grabowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charit\u00e9 \u2013 University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefan N.","family":"Willich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charit\u00e9 \u2013 University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"Bergh\u00f6fer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charit\u00e9 \u2013 University Medical Center Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and Humboldt-Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(21)00395-3","article-title":"Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019","volume":"9","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10654-004-1009-0","article-title":"Lifetime prevalence estimates of major depression: An indirect estimation method and a quantification of recall bias","volume":"20","author":"Kruijshaar","year":"2005","journal-title":"Eur J Epidemiol"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(20)30432-0","article-title":"Mental health matters","volume":"8","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Glob Health"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.o1557","article-title":"Management of depression in adults: Summary of updated nice guidance","volume":"378","author":"Kendrick","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"B5","unstructured":"S3-Leitlinie Behandlung von depressiven St\u00f6rungen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen\n          \n          \n          \n          2013"},{"key":"B6","unstructured":"S3-Leitlinie psychosoziale Therapien bei schweren psychischen Erkrankungen\n          \n          \n          \n          2019"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.01203","article-title":"The effectiveness of art therapy for anxiety in adult women: A randomized controlled trial","volume":"10","author":"Abbing","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front Psychol"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2023.1128252","article-title":"Effectiveness and mechanisms of the arts therapies in forensic care. 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