Public Art & Health

Art viewing and stress: promising, uneven evidence

Research record PAH-021 · Finding, limitations, sources and publication relationships.

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· 2021 · International

Findings, methods and sources

Adjacent evidenceReviewContext / synthesis

Finding. Law and colleagues reviewed 14 studies of art viewing and stress, finding promising results across heterogeneous methods and settings.

Limitation. Only four studies were randomised trials. Findings from museums and laboratories require care when applied to hospitals.

Law M, Karulkar N, Broadbent E. Evidence for the effects of viewing visual artworks on stress outcomes: a scoping review. BMJ Open. 2021;11(6):e043549.

Methods and verification

Verification level: Abstract checked

Design
Scoping review
Sample / scope
Studies of art viewing and stress outcomes across settings
Setting
Multiple
Art form
Several or unspecified

Citation and abstract checked against PubMed, 29 September 2026

Last full editorial audit: 2026-09-09 · Verification policy

Publications and overlap

No confirmed shared-publication match is recorded for this entry in Edition 4.11. Source-by-source and participant-level reconciliation is incomplete; this does not establish an independent study.

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This citation identifies the repository entry. To cite the research finding, use the original publication listed above.

Public Art & Health. Art viewing and stress: promising, uneven evidence. Research record PAH-021. Edition 4.11, 29 September 2026. https://www.publicart.health/research/pah-021

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