Art therapy and art psychotherapy are often offered in Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS). We aimed to review the evidence regarding art therapy and art psychotherapy in children attending mental health services. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO (CINHAL®Complete) following PRISMA guidelines, using the search terms (“creative therapy” OR “art therapy”) AND (child* OR adolescent OR teen*). We excluded review articles, articles which included adults, articles which were not written in English and articles without outcome measures. We identified 17 articles which are included in our review synthesis. We described these in two groups—ten articles regarding the treatment of children with a psychiatric diagnosis and seven regarding the treatment of children with psychiatric symptoms, but no formal diagnosis. The studies varied in terms of the type of art therapy/psychotherapy delivered, underlying conditions and outcome measures. Many were case studies/case series or small quasi-experimental studies; there were few randomised controlled trials and no replication studies. However, there was some evidence that art therapy or art psychotherapy may benefit children who have experienced trauma or who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. There is extensive literature regarding art therapy/psychotherapy in children but limited empirical papers regarding its use in children attending mental health services. There is some evidence that art therapy or art psychotherapy may benefit children who have experienced trauma. Further research is required, and it may be beneficial if studies could be replicated in different locations.
ObjectiveThe effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on neuronal development is known, but its relationship with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder, has not yet been fully elucidated. To our knowledge, this is the first human study investigating serum VEGF levels in ADHD patients. In this study, it has been aimed to compare serum VEGF levels between a healthy control group and in ADHD patients to help determine the association between serum VEGF levels and ADHD.MethodsThis study sample included forty-four patients diagnosed with ADHD and 43 healthy volunteer controls between 7 to 14 years old. Blood samples were taken from patients and the healthy control group to assess their serum VEGF levels. VEGF levels were calculated by subjecting the optical densities of the samples to concentrations of known standards as provided in the ELISA kit and then performing a regression correlation analysis.ResultsThe mean VEGF level of the children was 333.6 ± 209.8 in the ADHD group and 341.3 ± 201.8 in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in serum VEGF levels between the ADHD and control groups (U = 926.000, z = −0.170, p = 0.865).ConclusionThere was no significant difference in serum VEGF levels for untreated ADHD cases and a healthy control group. This is the first human study investigating serum VEGF levels in ADHD patients, so there is a need to replicate these findings.
Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder and its aetiology is not fully understood. This study aimed to determine whether the CCL5 and CCL11 influence the ADHD aetiology by comparing serum CCL5 and CCL11 levels of children with ADHD and typical development. Methods: This study included 45 (27 males, mean age = 8.9 ± 1.7 years) treatment-naive patients diagnosed with ADHD and 35 (20 males, mean age = 8.8 ± 1.6 years) healthy controls. Participants ranged in age between 6−12 years and completed the Conners Teacher Rating Scale that assesses ADHD presentation and severity. CCL5 and CCL11 serum levels were also measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results: Significantly higher serum CCL5 levels were found in children with ADHD compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001). No significant difference was found between the mean serum CC11 level of the patients and controls (p = 0.93). In addition, there was no significant correlation between the serum CCL5 and CCL11 levels and predominant presentations of ADHD and disease severity. Conclusion: This study suggests that there are higher levels of serum CCL5 in drug naive children with ADHD, this findings suggest that CCL5 might play a role in the pathophysiology of ADHD. Moreover, these changes in peripheral blood may have therapeutic value. In addition, these results help to understand the role of chemokines in elucidating the etiopathogenesis of ADHD. Our results can be considered as the first step in investigating the role of CCL5 in ADHD, and further research is needed to support these initial findings.
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