ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicImplementing Mental Health Prevention and Promotion Programs: A Sustainable Approach - Volume IIIView all 3 articles
From art to mental health: exploring the impact of a museum-based intervention on psychological well-being
Provisionally accepted
Michela Nosè1
Beatrice Compri1
DORIANA CRISTOFALO1Vanessa Carlon2Rada Kratchanova2Alessia Rodighiero2Carlotta Menegazzo2
Federico Tedeschi1
Giulia Turrini1*
Corrado Barbui1- 1University of Verona, Verona, Italy
- 2Palazzo Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo, Verona, Italy
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Introduction Engagement with arts and cultural activities has been increasingly recognized for its role in promoting mental health and well-being. This study evaluates the impact of a structured museum-based intervention on psychological well-being. Methods A prospective hybrid type-1 non-randomized follow-up study with a pre-post design was conducted. Psychological distress, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and psychological well-being were assessed before and after a structured museum itinerary. Results A total of 103 participants (82.5% female) completed pre-and post-intervention assessments. The intervention led to significant improvements across all psychological measures (p < 0.001), with the most notable effects observed in individuals aged 41–60. Additionally, between 89% and 98% of participants reported high acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the itinerary. Discussion The observed clinical improvements and high acceptability highlight the potential of museum-based interventions as an innovative and effective approach to mental health promotion. Future research should focus on scaling and replicating such interventions in diverse cultural and community settings, further integrating the arts into public health strategies.
Keywords: psychological well-being, psychological distress, depressive symptoms, Anxiety symptoms, Art, museum
Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 24 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nosè, Compri, CRISTOFALO, Carlon, Kratchanova, Rodighiero, Menegazzo, Tedeschi, Turrini and Barbui. 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: Giulia Turrini, giulia.turrini@univr.it
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