Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mandala Coloring on Mental Health in Iran: A Systematic Review

Background: Mandala coloring is a branch of art therapy that significantly impacts maintaining and promoting various dimensions of mental health. However, it has received little attention as a complementary treatment to cure and prevent mental disorders. This study aims to evaluate, in a systematic way, the effectiveness of mandala coloring to promote its use for preventing and treating mental disorders. Methods: This research is a systematic review study. To retrieve the articles, the authors used keywords “Art therapy”, “mandala coloring”, “mandala”, “mandala therapy”, and “coloring therapy” both in Persian and English. Available databases were used to collect the articles. Then, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only five articles were recognized as eligible and included in the study. Results: The findings of this study showed that research on mandala coloring as a mental health complementary therapy is minimal in Iran. Conclusion: Despite the effectiveness of mandala coloring on various dimensions of health and its ease of use and access, this complementary therapy is still unknown and limitedly used in Iran. Accordingly, further research is needed in this field to apply their results in medicine and education.