Do adjunctive art therapies reduce symptomatology in schizophrenia? A meta-analysis

©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND: Art therapies are advocated by national bodies, such as the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to alleviate the negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The last decade has however, seen several new larger well-controlled trials published suggesting an update is timely.AIM: To asses randomised controlled trials (RCT) of art therapies for reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia - particularly negative symptoms.METHODS: Searches of PubMed and Scopus were conducted until May 2019 for RCTs examining the impact of art therapies on psychosis (positive, negative and total) symptoms in people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Random effects meta-analyses were used to derive overall effect sizes. Moderator analyses were conducted using both meta-regression and categorical comparisons.RESULTS: We identified 133 articles, of which 9 RCTs involving 948 participants (475 assigned to art therapies and 473 controls) met our inclusion criteria. Using random effects models, we calculated pooled effect sizes (Hedges g) for end-of-trial symptomatic outcomes. Effect sizes both for total symptoms [ g = -0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.60 to 0.05, k = 6] and for positive symptoms ( g = -0.10, 95%CI -0.35 to 0.15, k = 6) were non-significant; however, we did find significant reduction of negative symptoms ( g = -0.42, 95%CI -0.70 to -0.14, k = 9). Meta-regression revealed that negative symptom reduction was larger in trials with a greater proportion of women and in trials with younger patients. Crucially, the negative symptom reduction following art therapies was limited to lower quality trials and did not emerge in trials that used blind assessment of outcomes. CONCLUSION: This review presents a comprehensive meta-analysis of art therapies in schizophrenia in terms of both studies included and participant numbers. We found that art therapies did not significantly reduce total or positive symptoms. A "small" therapeutic effect was found for negative symptoms, but we show that the effect is not present in blind trials and may be subject to publication bias.Peer reviewe

Reflections on an intervention to motivate student learning through in-semester online assessment

In my experience engineering degree programmes are relatively demanding in terms of class contact hours which are typically up to a factor of two greater than many equivalent arts based courses. The predominant teaching strategy involves lectures and tutorials which usually take on the form of problem solving sessions and laboratory work. This commitment of time taken together with the necessary study required to complete assignments and coursework means that a consistently, steady work pattern is generally a prerequisite of success. In my role as a lecturer in engineering I have found that increasingly academic ability needs to be supplemented by motivation, effort and a structured work ethic. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that many students cannot manage their learning without significant levels of support, guidance and direction, particularly at levels 0 and 1. This may in part be attributed to the teaching methods that students have been exposed to earlier in their education which appear to be increasingly prescriptive. However, difficulties are often exacerbated by financial pressures which require an increasing proportion of the student body to undertake part-time work with unsocial working hours often disrupting attendance at classes. A vicious circle can ensue whereby inability to manage learning serves to de-motivate and lack of motivation in turn further reduces the ability to manage study, possibly leading ultimately to failure and/or withdrawal

Plus ca change? Continuity and change in UK legislative drafting practice

This article is taken from the text of the Sir William Dale Lecture for 2008, given on November 3 2008 by Stephen Laws CB, First Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Article by Stephen Laws published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Marketing an Established Institutional Repository: Marquette Libraries’ Research Stewardship Survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of Marquette University Libraries’ survey measuring faculty knowledge and attitudes about the institution’s repository, for the purposes of creating a marketing plan for the institutional repository (IR). Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a quantitative approach through the use of a survey. Findings Like many other endeavors to measure faculty engagement with the IR, the investigators discovered that faculty knowledge of the IR is not universal. Moreover, the perceived values and motivators for faculty use of the IR were also not surprising, with faculty viewing online dissemination of their work to be the most valuable feature offered by the IR, and furthering their own careers was the prime motivator. The importance of continual and varied methods of marketing is reaffirmed. Originality/value Whereas many articles on faculty recruitment for IRs agree on the importance of marketing, very few suggest specific strategies. The investigators make suggestions for continual and varied marketing methods based on their findings

Turbine instabilities: Case histories

Several possible causes of turbine rotor instability are discussed and the related design features of a wide range of turbomachinery types and sizes are considered. The instrumentation options available for detecting rotor instability and assessing its severity are also discussed