SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Arts Therapy for Children and Adolescents with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Music Artificial Intelligence and Music Information Technology, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China
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Background: Arts therapy has gained increasing popularity for alleviating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents and children due to its non-intrusive nature and ease of interaction with participants. In this pre-registered systematic review (PROSPERO: 420251060744), we synthesized existing literature on arts therapies as interventions for managing PTSD symptoms in adolescents and children. Methods: We conducted systematic searches of APA PsycNET, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science up to June 15th 2025. Results: 1,273 articles were identified through systematic searches, with 10 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. These studies reported some positive outcomes from visual art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy, and poetry therapy; however, the effectiveness of individual arts therapies in improving PTSD symptoms was inconclusive. Conclusion: Arts therapies demonstrate significant effects on certain symptoms of children and adolescents with PTSD. However, more rigorous studies are warranted to substantiate the efficacy and generalizability of arts therapies.
Keywords: Children, adolescents, Arts therapy, Systematic review, Post-traumatic stress disorder
Received: 30 Sep 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Cui and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zehui Li
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.