THE MECHANISM AND INTEGRATION PATH OF MUSIC THERAPY AND LITERATURE AND ART THERAPY IN THE INTERVENTION OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY: A NARRATIVE REVIEW
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/jca.v3i2.9680Keywords:
Music therapy, Expressive writing, Bibliotherapy, Creative Arts Therapies, Depression and anxietyAbstract
This narrative review synthesizes evidence on music therapy/music-based interventions versus literature-based interventions (expressive writing, bibliotherapy) for depression and anxiety, with a focus on mechanisms and integration. A structured search of Chinese and English literature (January 2000-March 2024) was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CNKI, and Wanfang, with reference snowballing. In total, 15 key evidence sources directly informing the comparative synthesis were synthesized, primarily systematic reviews/meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and mechanistic reviews, alongside a small number of selected empirical and qualitative studies. Using a comparative framework (intervention characteristics; populations/outcomes; mechanisms), review-level evidence suggests that music-based interventions are associated with small-to-moderate symptom benefits and may improve quality of life and social functioning in some settings. Review-level evidence also suggests that expressive writing and bibliotherapy are more consistently associated with improved subjective well-being, stress reduction, and narrative processing, although symptom effects appear context-dependent. Mechanistic syntheses propose that shared pathways likely involve emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal/meaning-making, and social connection, with music tending to favor bottom-up arousal modulation and literature-based approaches emphasizing top-down narrative organization. Future studies should incorporate mechanism-sensitive outcomes and implementation research to inform routine-care integration.
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