The effects of art therapy on anxiety, depression, and quality of life in adults with cancer: a systematic literature review

PURPOSE: While there is increasing evidence for the effectiveness of psychosocial support programs for cancer patients, little attention has been paid to creativity or art as a way of addressing their psychological problems and improving quality of life. This review provides an overview of interventional studies that investigate the effects of art therapy interventions on anxiety, depression, and quality of life in adults with cancer. METHODS: We conducted a literature review with a systematic search. The databases PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were searched for articles on art therapy among adult (18 years and above) cancer patients, published between September 2009 up to September 2019. Search terms were established for each database specifically. A total of 731 publications was assessed for relevance by title and abstract. The remaining 496 articles were examined using three inclusion criteria: interventions were guided by an artist or art therapist, participants were actively involved in the creative process, and anxiety, depression, and/or quality of life were included as outcome measures. Methodological quality of the included studies was appraised using specific checklists. RESULTS: Seven papers met the inclusion criteria. Data was extracted from three non-randomized intervention studies and four randomized controlled trials. All studies used a quantitative design with validated outcome measures. Four articles described positive effects of art therapy on anxiety, depression, or quality of life in adults with cancer. CONCLUSION: Art therapy could possibly help decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve quality of life in adult cancer patients. However, because of the heterogeneity of the interventions and limited methodological quality of the studies, further research using stringent methods is needed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00520-020-05869-0.