• PTSD
• art therapy
• mechanisms of change
• neurophysiological changes
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• therapeutic mechanisms
• triple network

• art therapy
• arts
• arts in health
• arts integration
• health
• music therapy
• resilience
• well-being

• Humans
• Resilience, Psychological
• Independent Living
• Mental Health
• Coping Skills
• Chronic Disease

• Ohio Arts Council

• Arts therapy
• Chronic nonmalignant pain management
• Dance/movement therapy
• Music
• Visual art therapy
• Written expression

• Art therapy
• Cognitive-behavioural intervention
• Drawing
• Postnatal
• Pregnancy
• Visual art

• Pratt Foundation Seed Fund award Monash University

• acceptability
• endometriosis
• environmental enrichment
• feasibility
• psychosocial
• randomized clinical trial

• R21 HD098481 NICHD NIH HHS

Anxiety disorders (ADs) are among the most common psychiatric disorders and they may appear as early on as in childhood. The current study addressed the combination of two treatments approaches for ADs: Dance/movement therapy (DMT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), focusing on factors that explain the therapists' attitudes towards actually combining the two therapies. The study utilized a quantitative design, with a perceptions survey administered via an online questionnaire. Ninety-nine therapists participated in the study (DMT-only n = 35, CBT-only n = 42, and DMT + CBT, n = 22). Following preliminary analysis (comparison between the groups, correlations and factor analysis), the structural equation model (SEM, confirmatory factor analysis) revealed a good fit between the theoretical model and the empirical data. First, it was found that the reported actual use of the combined approaches (DMT + CBT) in treatment of children with ADs, was significantly explained by therapists who had experience practicing DMT but not CBT perceiving this combination as efficient. Second, the therapists' use of the combined therapy (DMT + CBT) approaches was not related to their sense of efficacy as therapists of children with ADs. The model represents concordance between the components of the therapists' attitudes: Affective—belief that it is efficient, cognitive—perception of it as effective, and behavioral—their actual use.

Older adults have been considered a primary at-risk population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and many efforts have been and still are directed toward supporting them and enhancing their capacity to cope with the pandemic. Evidence shows that by enhancing proactive coping abilities through psychological interventions, in which cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness techniques are taught and practiced effectively, these interventions have supported older adults throughout the pandemic. However, the underlying mechanisms by which specific intervention components affect various mental states such as distress, depression and loneliness among older adults remain unclear and warrant investigation.

To determine the effect of an intervention using cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness techniques on changes in distress, depression and loneliness.

We performed a secondary analysis on data from a previous study in which community-dwelling older adults attended a short-term, internet-based intervention during the first COVID-19 wave in Israel. The intervention included seven sessions during which various cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness techniques were learned and practiced. In-session changes in psychological distress were measured using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS), which participants rated at the beginning and end of each session. Participants also filled out questionnaires that evaluated levels of depression [Patient Health Ques-tionnaire (PHQ-9)] and loneliness (UCLA loneliness Scale) prior to and after the entire intervention process. The effect of in-session changes in the SUDS on changes in post-intervention depression and loneliness levels were assessed, as a proxy for distinct technique effectiveness.

The findings indicated in-session differences in terms of a decrease in psychological distress (SUDS). Sessions that included relaxation exercises and guided imagery, as well as sessions that included cognitive restructuring and mindfulness meditation, demonstrated the largest decreases in in-session psychological distress (≥ 35%). Two multivariate regression models, one for levels of post-intervention depression (PHQ-9 score) and the other for levels of post-intervention loneliness (UCLA loneliness score), were fitted. The results revealed two statistically significant explanatory variables for depression: The SUDS difference for sessions in which cognitive restructuring and mindfulness meditation were practiced, beta = -0.25, 95%CI: -1.23 to -0.1, and the pre-intervention level of depression, beta = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.37-0.75. The second model for loneliness revealed only one significant explanatory variable: The SUDS difference for sessions in which relaxation and guided imagery were practiced, beta = 0.41, 95%CI: 0.14-0.65.

Different psychological techniques seem to have different effects on distress, loneliness and depression. Understanding the pathways by which distinct techniques affect negative mental symptoms has implications for future intervention design.

• COVID-19
• Depression
• Loneliness
• Aged
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Subjective Units of Distress Scale
• Intervention studies

• adolescent
• art therapy
• bibliometric analysis
• children
• co-occurrence analysis
• elderly
• health and well-being
• psychotherapy
• therapeutic method
• virtual reality

• Adolescent
• Aged
• Art Therapy
• Bibliometrics
• COVID-19
• Child
• Humans
• Mental Health
• SARS-CoV-2

• Research on Youth Psychological / Mind Models and Art Therapy Strategies: Taking Greater Bay Area University as an Example: grant number 2019GXJK196 Guangdong Province Education Science Planning Project

Increasing evidence suggests that non-pharmacological therapies impact on neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Among these, art-based interventions seem particularly suitable for elders’ rehabilitation as they act both on cognitive functions and quality of life. However, their benefits are not yet appropriately explored. The main aim of this quasi-experimental study was to test the feasibility and the likely efficacy of a novel multi-dimensional visual art intervention for people with Alzheimer’s disease (PWAD), named Art, Colors, and Emotions treatment (ACE-t). A group of PWAD (N = 10) was recruited from the Memory Clinic of Don Gnocchi Foundation to take part in the ACE-t. A historical control group that followed a usual care program (N = 10) was used for comparison. We considered both feasibility output (adherence and acceptability) and efficacy outcome measures (neuropsychological and neurobehavioral scales). We observed a good adherence to and acceptability of the ACE-t. The following significant intervention-related changes were also observed in ACE-t with respect to usual care: improvement in general cognition, as assessed with the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive, amelioration in language, and in executive functions, and reduction in Neuropsychiatric Inventory Scale score. In conclusion, ACE-t could be considered as a suitable intervention for the rehabilitation of PWAD, with positive effects on the cognitive and the behavioral status. ACE is a promising new art-based intervention that merits further research, including confirmatory trials of our preliminary results.

• Alzheimer’s disease
• acceptability
• adherence
• cognition
• neurodegeneration
• non-pharmacological intervention
• rehabilitation
• visual art

• Computational Paradigm (CP)
• art
• artistic behavior dynamics
• arts therapies
• computational technology
• computer modeling
• music
• research method

• Art therapy
• Cognitive behavioural interventions
• Mental images
• Mothers’ mental health
• PMAD

• Art Therapy
• Art based interventions
• Body and Mind
• Mechanistic studies

• Art Therapy
• Chronic Disease/therapy
• Humans
• Models, Theoretical