{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T17:17:48Z","timestamp":1788455868368,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788393600000},"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>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Pregnant women in China face various emotional difficulties during pregnancy but lack adequate mental health support. This study aimed to design and evaluate a group-based integrative expressive art therapy intervention for addressing emotional and psychological concerns in this population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-intervention assessments were delivered from July to December 2025. We developed a five-session expressive art therapy intervention employing multiple art modalities, including painting, doodling, hand-making, OH cards, music as well as storytelling. In the secondary analyses, we selected a control group (N = 14) to compare participants\u2019 perceptions of art therapy and willingness-to-pay against those in the intervention group (N = 14).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>After the intervention, significant reductions in both state and trait anxiety were observed (p&amp;lt;0.05). Qualitative analyses revealed improvements in emotional awareness, self-expression, cognitive restructuring, stress relief, social support, social connection, self-acceptance, and self-efficacy. In the secondary analyses, participants who received intervention reported more positive perceptions of its effects in emotion regulation, anxiety reduction, and mother\u2013child relationship enhancement compared with non-participants (p&amp;lt;0.05), while no significant differences were found in willingness-to-pay (p=0.7).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility and effects of a group-based integrative expressive art therapy for pregnant women in China. The findings support the application of expressive art therapy as a mental health service and provide implications for the development of related health policies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1850434","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T16:25:57Z","timestamp":1788452757000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Design and evaluation of a group-based integrative expressive art therapy intervention for mental health among pregnant women in China: a pilot pre-post study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xue","family":"Feng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Quanlun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nanning Mental Health Association","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ling","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongting","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunmei","family":"Lan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Ling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruimin","family":"Ling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yini","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hua","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, 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