ABSTRACT Background: School-based art therapy aims to facilitate children's personal change and growth through the use of visual arts media, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, clay, or digital art. Aims: To identify and synthesise the types of school-based art therapy interventions, and appraise the effectiveness for children aged 5-12. Methods: Systematic searching through ten major electronic databases, grey literature, and contact with experts in the field. Results: Six completed and two on-going studies were identified. Art therapy was delivered to children with asthma, behavioural disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, separation anxiety disorders, learning disorders, and disruptive behaviours. All interventions were delivered over 7-25 sessions, and lasted 40-60' per session. The sample sizes ranged between 20-109 participants, involving 247 participants in total. Conclusions: Art therapy can be effective in improving children's quality of life; anxiety; self-concept; problem-solving skills, attitudes towards school; emotional and behavioural difficulties. The follow-up findings were also promising; though confirmatory evidence is needed. Implications: The risk of bias was high and unclear, highlighting the importance of following standardised reporting guidelines. Future research needs to focus on the identification of primary outcomes and measures that are tailored to art therapy interventions, and explore the (cost-) effectiveness of shorter versus longer durations of treatment. Plain-language summary Art therapy is widely used in schools to alleviate and prevent children’s emotional difficulties. In contrast to talking therapies, art therapy aims to facilitate personal change and growth through the use of visual arts media, such as, drawing, painting, sculpture, clay, or digital art media. This systematic review aims to summarise the results from school-based art therapy studies, and to appraise the effectiveness for children aged 5–12. Ten major electronic databases were systematically searched. Art therapy–specific journals and books were hand-searched, and contact was made with experts in the field. From the 10,911 retrieved results, 623 results were duplicates and 9181 were excluded following title screening. Following abstract screening, 41 papers appeared to be relevant and the full text was requested. Six completed and two on-going studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Art therapy was delivered to children with asthma, behavioural disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, separation anxiety disorders, learning disorders, and disruptive behaviours. The sessions were delivered over 7–25 weeks, and lasted 40’–60’ per session. The number of children in individual studies ranged between 20–109 participants, providing this systematic review with data from 247 participants in total. The results suggested that art therapy is effective in improving children’s quality of life; anxiety; self-concept; problem-solving skills, attitudes towards school; emotional and behavioural difficulties. The follow-up findings were also promising; though further research is needed to increase confidence. Most studies appeared to have questionable methodological quality. Therefore, the use of reporting guidelines is important to allow for a better understanding of the results. Future research is needed to identify common primary outcomes, and investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of shorter versus longer durations of treatment.

中文翻译：

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对在学校环境中对 5-12 岁儿童进行艺术治疗的有效性的系统评价

摘要背景：以学校为基础的艺术治疗旨在通过使用视觉艺术媒体，如绘画、绘画、雕塑、粘土或数字艺术来促进儿童的个人改变和成长。目的：识别和综合校本艺术治疗干预的类型，并评估对 5-12 岁儿童的有效性。方法：系统检索十大电子数据库、灰色文献，联系相关领域专家。结果：确定了六项已完成的研究和两项正在进行的研究。艺术疗法适用于患有哮喘、行为障碍、对立违抗性障碍、分离焦虑症、学习障碍和破坏性行为的儿童。所有干预措施都进行了 7-25 次会议，每次会议持续 40-60'。样本量介于 20-109 名参与者之间，共计247人参加。结论：艺术疗法可有效提高儿童的生活质量；焦虑; 自我概念；解决问题的能力，对学校的态度；情绪和行为困难。后续调查结果也很有希望；虽然需要确凿的证据。影响：偏倚风险高且不明确，突出了遵循标准化报告指南的重要性。未来的研究需要专注于确定适合艺术治疗干预的主要结果和措施，并探索较短与较长治疗持续时间的（成本）有效性。简明扼要 艺术疗法广泛应用于学校，以缓解和预防儿童的情绪困难。与谈话疗法相比，艺术疗法旨在通过使用视觉艺术媒体，如绘画、绘画、雕塑、粘土或数字艺术媒体来促进个人的改变和成长。本系统评价旨在总结基于学校的艺术治疗研究的结果，并评估对 5-12 岁儿童的有效性。系统地搜索了十个主要的电子数据库。手工搜索特定于艺术治疗的期刊和书籍，并与该领域的专家取得联系。在检索到的 10,911 个结果中，有 623 个结果是重复的，并且在标题筛选后排除了 9181 个。经过摘要筛选，41 篇论文似乎是相关的，因此要求提供全文。六项已完成和两项正在进行的研究符合纳入标准，并被纳入本综述。为哮喘儿童提供艺术疗法，行为障碍、对立违抗障碍、分离焦虑障碍、学习障碍和破坏性行为。课程持续 7-25 周，每次课程持续 40'-60'。个别研究中的儿童人数介于 20 至 109 名参与者之间，本系统评价提供了总共 247 名参与者的数据。结果表明，艺术疗法可有效改善儿童的生活质量；焦虑; 自我概念；解决问题的能力，对学校的态度；情绪和行为困难。后续调查结果也很有希望；尽管需要进一步研究以增加信心。大多数研究的方法学质量似乎有问题。因此，报告指南的使用对于更好地理解结果很重要。