Group arts interventions, such as painting, dance, or music, significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in older adults, offering a powerful alternative to traditional treatments.

The benefits are universal, with consistent results across different art forms, intervention types, and countries. Group arts interventions were particularly beneficial for care home residents relative to older adults who lived in the community.

The findings support the inclusion of group arts interventions in social prescribing initiatives and healthcare guidelines, providing an accessible, cost-effective, and enjoyable way to improve mental well-being in later life.

New Haven, Conn. — Research has shown that young people who face adversity such as traumatic or stressful events during brain development are 40% more likely to develop anxiety disorders by adulthood. But most people who endure these experiences during childhood and adolescence prove to be resilient to these mental health effects.

A new Yale study finds that when this adversity occurs during brain development may affect how susceptible people are to anxiety and other psychiatric problems as adults.

According to the study, published March 5 in the journal Communications Psychology, experiencing low-to-moderate levels of adversity during middle childhood (between the ages of 6 and 12) and adolescence may foster resilience to anxiety later in life.

“For clinicians, dietitians, and researchers, these findings offer a new framework for evaluating weight-loss success—one that considers not just how much fat is lost, but what kind of fat is lost and how it affects metabolic health. As precision nutrition and personalized medicine evolve, these results could pave the way for more effective interventions that help people achieve better long-term health outcomes.”

A review in Clinical & Experimental Allergy concludes that exposing young children to small amounts of foods that they’re allergic to is safer than avoiding the foods altogether, which could be very dangerous if accidental exposure occurs.