A systematic review of the effectiveness of art therapy delivered in school-based settings to children aged 5–12 years

Background: School-based art therapy aims to facilitate children's personal change and growth through the use of visual arts media, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, clay, or digital art. Aims: To identify and synthesise the types of school-based art therapy interventions, and appraise the effectiveness for children aged 5-12. Methods: Systematic searching through ten major electronic databases, grey literature, and contact with experts in the field. Results: Six completed and two on-going studies were identified. Art therapy was delivered to children with asthma, behavioural disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, separation anxiety disorders, learning disorders, and disruptive behaviours. All interventions were delivered over 7-25 sessions, and lasted 40-60' per session. The sample sizes ranged between 20-109 participants, involving 247 participants in total. Conclusions: Art therapy can be effective in improving children's quality of life; anxiety; self-concept; problem-solving skills, attitudes towards school; emotional and behavioural difficulties. The follow-up findings were also promising; though confirmatory evidence is needed. Implications: The risk of bias was high and unclear, highlighting the importance of following standardised reporting guidelines. Future research needs to focus on the identification of primary outcomes and measures that are tailored to art therapy interventions, and explore the (cost-) effectiveness of shorter versus longer durations of treatment

Deletion of the unique gene encoding a typical histone H1 has no apparent phenotype in Aspergillus nidulans

We have cloned the H1 histone gene (hhoA) of Aspergillus nidulans. This single-copy gene codes for a typical linker histone with one central globular domain. The open reading frame is interrupted by six introns. The position of the first intron is identical to that of introns found in some plant histones. An H1–GFP fusion shows exclusive nuclear localization, whereas chromosomal localization can be observed during condensation at mitosis. Surprisingly, the deletion of hhoA results in no obvious phenotype. The nucleosomal repeat length and susceptibility to micrococcal nuclease digestion of A. nidulans chromatin are unchanged in the deleted strain. The nucleosomal organization of a number of promoters, including in particular the strictly regulated niiA-niaD bidirectional promoter is not affected.This work was supported by EC grant BIO2-CT93-0147, the CNRS and the Université Paris Sud. M.I.M-P. has been the recipient of CE fellowship BIO-CT-94-8102 and a fellowship from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale. R.G. has been the recipient of CE fellowship BIO4-CT-96-5010Peer reviewe