01What was studied
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 100 randomised trials from 29 countries, involving children and young people aged 5–24. It assessed arts and arts-therapy interventions across anxiety, depression, wellbeing and quality of life.
02Main finding
On average, the interventions were associated with lower anxiety and depression symptoms and better wellbeing and quality of life. The certainty was low for wellbeing and quality of life, and very low for anxiety and depression.
03Quality of the evidence
Medium as a synthesis, but limited for claims of efficacy. The review used a registered protocol, independent assessment, RoB 2 and GRADE; only four trials had a low risk of bias.
04Why it matters for NEYREL
The review supports studying specific wellbeing outcomes in creative programmes. It does not validate NEYREL KIDS or demonstrate that VER · EXPRESS · SOLVE changes the brain.
05Practical application
NEYREL proposal: evaluate participation, expression and wellbeing as separate outcomes, with predefined measures, a comparison condition and follow-up. This is a proposal for testing the method, not a result of the review.
06Important limitations
The analysis combines very different ages, populations and art forms. Heterogeneity reached 97% for depression and 87% for anxiety, so the average effects should be interpreted cautiously and cannot be transferred directly to NEYREL.