Table 1 Characteristics of studies that fulfilled inclusion criteria

Luo 2000 [14]

Military college students

P: 31

C: 24

30 days

23.9

SCL-90

Calligraphy

Cui 2003 [11]

Senior college students

P: 60

C: 40

1 year

P: 65.4 ± 5.25

C: 64.8 ± 8.46

SCL-90

Calligraphy and painting

Zhou B 2005 [15]

Grade 3 elementary school students

P: 87

C: 37

2 years

–

CPQ

Calligraphy

Zhou GQ 2005 [16]

Patients with schizophrenia

P: 15

C: 21

20 weeks

P: 49.67 ± 6.9

C: 53.33 ± 6.64

PANSS

TESS

Calligraphy

Dong 2006 [17]

Patients with anxiety

P: 28

C: 27

8 weeks

P: 32.4 ± 7.8

C: 30.5 ± 8.6

HAMA

SAS, CGI

Calligraphy

Zhao 2006 [18]

Patients with chronic schizophrenia

P: 48

C: 50

8 weeks

P: 25 ± 8.6

C: 24 ± 7.8

SCL-90

Calligraphy

Guo 2007 [19]

Schizophrenic inpatients

P: 30

C: 30

2 months

P: 31.3 ± 11.6

C: 32.3 ± 11.7

SAS, SDS

Music, calligraphy, painting, and dancing

Zeng 2007 [20]

Patients with generalized anxiety

P: 34

C: 34

8 weeks

P: 32.49 ± 8.2

C: 33.2 ± 8.3

HAMA

SAS

Calligraphy

Zheng 2008 [21]

Patients with depression

P: 31

C: 30

6 weeks

P: 37.5 ± 12.5

C: 36.6 ± 12.8

HAMA

HAMD

Calligraphy

Li 2010 [22]

Schizophrenic inpatients

P: 30

C: 30

8 weeks

P: 32.6 ± 11.3

C: 32.1 ± 11.2

BPRS

SANS

Calligraphy and painting

Yang 2010 [12]

NPC patients

P: 24

C: 29

4 weeks

49.63 ± 10.81

SDS

POMS SF

Three groups: relaxation, calligraphy, and control

Zhou 2010 [23]

Schizophrenic inpatients

P: 30

C: 30

3 months

40.38 ± 11.20

BPRS

SANS

Calligraphy and painting

Kwok 2011 [13]

Older people with MCI

P: 14

C: 17

8 weeks

P: 85.79 ± 4.93

C: 85.76 ± 6.93

CMMSE

Calligraphy

Tian 2012 [24]

Patients with chronic schizophrenia

P: 60

C: 60

6 months

36.21 ± 2.54

BPRS

Occupational therapy, fine art, and calligraphy

Zhang 2012 [25]

Schizophrenic inpatients

P: 30

C: 30

12 months

–

PANSS

Calligraphy and painting

Dong 2013 [26]

Patients with chronic schizophrenia

P: 35

C: 34

12 weeks

P: 32 ± 7

C: 31 ± 9

SCL-90

PANSS

Calligraphy or drawing

Xu 2013 [27]

Undergraduate students

P: 8

C: 8

10 days

–

EEG-theta waves

Calligraphy

Zhou 2013 [28]

Grade 3 to 4 elementary school students

P: 101

C: 69

2 school years

P: 8.60 ± 0.55

C: 8.59 ± 0.41

PANAC-c

CERO-k

Calligraphy

Zhu 2014 [29]

Children with hyperarousal symptoms

P: 64

C: 38

30 days

P: 10.52 ± 1.16

C: 10.54 ± 1.15

Salivary cortisol level

Calligraphy

P: 129

C: 81

P: 10.51 ± 1.15

C: 10.52 ± 1.13

CRIES

Tai 2016 [8]

Patients with AD

P: 14

C: 10

6 weeks

P: 70.21 ± 7.9

C: 76.3 ± 7.03

CDR-SB

TC MMSE, GDS-S

Tai-chi, calligraphy, and drawing

Chan 2016 [30]

Individuals with MCI

P: 14

C: 16

8 weeks

P: 65.9 ± 5.0

C: 66.4 ± 3.65

Reaction time on the Chinese and digit 2-back and detection tasks

Calligraphy