Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33176729›Full record

SynthesisBMC psychiatry2020

The effectiveness of one-to-one peer support in mental health services: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Sarah White, Rhiannon Foster, Jacqueline Marks, Rosaleen Morshead, Lucy Goldsmith, Sally Barlow, Jacqueline Sin, Steve Gillard

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07170657 (Teen Recovery Through Inspiration, Support, and Empowerment), which is not on this map. Cited by 149 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
149citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
39.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07170657 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Teen Recovery Through Inspiration, Support, and Empowerment (RISE)

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterRan2025 to 2026Enrolled40ConditionsSuicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Anxiety, Depression DisordersArmsPeer Support Services Recovery
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

149 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 319 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Trial
  20. Trial

89 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Sarah WhitePopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Rhiannon FosterPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Jacqueline MarksPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Rosaleen MorsheadPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Lucy GoldsmithPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Sally BarlowSchool of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
Jacqueline SinPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK.
Steve GillardPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK. sgillard@sgul.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9686-2232
St George's, University of London · GBCity, University of London · GB

Funding

Department of Health RP-PG-1212-20019Programme Grants for Applied Research RP-PG-1212-20019
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeer support is being introduced into mental health services internationally, often in response to workforce policy. Earlier systematic reviews incorporate different modalities of peer support (i.e. group and one-to-one), offer inconsistent evidence of effectiveness, and also indicate substantial heterogeneity and issues of quality in the evidence base at that time. An updated review, focussed on one-to-one peer support, is timely given current policy interest. This study aims to systematically review evidence for the effectiveness of one-to-one peer support interventions for adults using mental health services, and to explore heterogeneity in peer support interventions.

methodWe searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane databases from inception until 13 June 2019. Included studies were assessed for risk of bias, and meta-analyses conducted where multiple trials provided usable data.

resultsTwenty-three studies reporting nineteen trials were eligible, providing data from 3329 participants. While seven trials were of low to moderate risk of bias, incomplete reporting of data in many studies suggested bias in the evidence base. Peer support interventions included peer workers in paraclinical roles (e.g. case manager), providing structured behavioural interventions, or more flexible support for recovery. Meta-analyses were conducted for eleven outcomes, with evidence that one-to-one peer support may have a modest positive impact on self-reported recovery and empowerment. There was no impact on clinical symptoms or service use. Analyses of heterogeneity suggest that peer support might improve social network support.

conclusionsOne-to-one peer support in mental health services might impact positively on psychosocial outcomes, but is unlikely to improve clinical outcomes. In order to better inform the introduction of peer support into mental health services, improvement of the evidence base requires complete reporting of outcome data, selection of outcomes that relate to intervention mechanisms, exploration of heterogeneity in the implementation of peer support and focused reviews of specific types of one-to-one peer support.

trial registrationProspero identifier: CRD42015025621 .

Indexed as

Mental Health ServicesAdultCounselingHumansPeer GroupSocial SupportEmpowerment, recoveryMental health servicesMeta-analysisPeer supportPeer workerRandomised clinical trialSocial networkSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID33176729
PMCPMC7657356
OpenAlexW3104085542

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.