Art therapy in schizophrenia – Quantitative research aspects

Abstract

The present study is part of an exploratory research that aims to select the best art-therapeutic approaches for reducing stress and negative symptoms in schizophrenia and the tools that can measure therapeutic progress, with an eye to implement an art therapy program through theatrical games for patients with this diagnosis in Romania. The information was collected from scientific platforms such as Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, APA PsycNet and Google Scholar. Studies published after 2009 were selected, which evaluated the progress of patients following the application of art-therapeutic techniques. Keywords such as art therapy, schizophrenia, stress, negative symptoms were used. Of the 104 identified works, 21 met the inclusion criteria. Nine of the studies retained in the analysis confirmed the usefulness of art-therapeutic techniques in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, but two did not find positive results for the intervention groups. Visual arts techniques were used. Future research in this direction should aim to evaluate the long-term effects of these techniques, for a better understanding of the benefits of art therapy in people with schizophrenia.