The purpose of the present study was to analyze the efficacy of group art therapy on depression in Korea using a method of meta-analysis. For this analysis, 110 doctoral dissertations and master theses were examined and finally 53 studies were selecte...
The purpose of the present study was to analyze the efficacy of group art therapy on depression in Korea using a method of meta-analysis. For this analysis, 110 doctoral dissertations and master theses were examined and finally 53 studies were selected for meta-analysis. The selected studies were conducted in Korea from 2000 to 2009 and applied pre-post between group design, which means they were selected because they are controlled studies.
The result of meta-analysis was that 53 effect cases among these 53 were included and overall mean effect size of group art therapy on depression was 2.01 which is highly effective in terms of Cohen criteria. First, in terms of overall mean effect size according to intermediate subjects, effect size was the highest in the following situations: when they were in the middle age(2.78), when they were males(2.71), and when they were depressed to a degree beyond the clinical boundary line(2.61). Second, in terms of overall mean effect size according to program contexts, effect size was the highest in the following situations: when there weren't any dependent variables except for depression(2.85), when art therapy was conducted by using various kinds of art techniques(2.26), and when art therapy was conducted without theoretical backgrounds(2.62). Third, in terms of overall mean effect size according to program procedure, effect size was the highest in the following situations: when the group consisted of 16-20(2.52), when programs were conducted twice a week(2.45), when programs lasted for more than 6 months(4.08), when programs were conducted for more than 20 periods(2.71), and when programs lasted for 91-120 minutes per period(3.34).
This study is the first and comprehensive meta-analysis on a large scale of research in group art therapy for reducing depression outcome conducted in Korea. Therefore the results may give informative data to internationally comparative studies as well as domestic studies. Finally, the limitations of this study and the suggestions for future studies are presented.