{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T17:19:58Z","timestamp":1788455998283,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","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":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Women survivors of domestic violence often experience persistent psychological distress, yet evidence supporting community-based arts interventions remains limited, particularly in mainland China. This mixed-methods pilot study evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of Canvas of Strength, a community-based arts intervention for women survivors of domestic violence in Liaoning Province, China. Sixteen participants were recruited from a community service center and allocated to intervention (n = 8) and control (n = 8) groups. Depression, anxiety, and self-esteem were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up using standardized measures, while semi-structured interviews explored participants\u2019 experiences. The intervention group demonstrated significant improvements across all three psychological outcomes following the intervention, with these gains largely maintained at six-month follow-up, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group. Qualitative findings revealed enhanced emotional expression, positive cognitive reframing, improved self-perception, and strengthened interpersonal and social engagement, providing contextual support for the quantitative findings. Together, these findings suggest that Canvas of Strength shows promise as a community-based arts intervention for improving the psychological well-being of women survivors of domestic violence. Given the pilot nature and small sample size of this study, further evaluation in adequately powered trials is warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091563","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T16:21:21Z","timestamp":1788452481000},"page":"1563","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Canvas of Strength: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study of a Community-Based Arts Intervention for Women Survivors of Domestic Violence in China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5761-3516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xingcen","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Kamal","family":"Sabran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101703","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aip.2020.101703","article-title":"Effect of art psychotherapy using marbling art on depression, anxiety, and hopelessness in female survivors of domestic violence with PTSD","volume":"71","author":"Eren","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Arts in Psychotherapy"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1080\/15332985.2010.494540","article-title":"The language of healing: Women\u2019s voices in healing and recovering from domestic violence","volume":"9","author":"Allen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Social Work in Mental Health"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"American Psychiatric Association (2013). 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