SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2024
Mental health literacy in children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed studies systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Outcomes of Best-Practice Guided Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Emerging Symptoms: Part II. A Systematic Review of User Experience Outcomes.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of YouTube Health Videos on Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents and Teachers: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mental health · 2025Trial
- A cluster-randomized trial of interventions for adolescent mental disorders in Zimbabwe.BMC psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Association Between Mental Health Literacy and Its Dimensions with Adolescent Depression and Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Study Among 5759 Adolescents in China.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sri Lankan School Student and Teacher Perspectives of Adolescent Mental Health and Its Determinants: A Qualitative Exploration.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A guided chatbot-based psychological intervention for psychologically distressed older adolescents and young adults: a randomised clinical trial in Jordan.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Strengthening the quality and safety of community mental health care for children and young people: a critical review of innovations from low- and middle-income countries.Frontiers in health services · 2026Review
- Adolescent readiness for mobile mental health support in Soweto: A mixed-methods study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Picture-cum-activity book on mental health care for adolescents: An initial evaluation.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2026Article
- Counselling within South Africa's public health system: Mental healthcare users' experiences.Journal of public health in Africa · 2026Article
- Film-based cultural narrative intervention to enhance mental health literacy and resilience in indigenous adolescents: a mixed-methods co-design study.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Young people's experiences and strategies for improving their awareness and access to mental health and substance use health services.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Child Mental Health Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Twin-Family Feasibility Study in Nigeria.Behavior genetics · 2025Article
- Health financial resilience in individuals and households: a scoping review of components, strategies and outcomes.BMC public health · 2025Article
- A Gamified Digital Mental Health Intervention Across Six Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of a Large-Scale Implementation.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Mental health service use among adolescents in three low- and middle-income countries: An analysis of the National Adolescent Mental Health Surveys.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Relationship of parental caregiving and child labour with developmental problems and mental health in children in low-to-middle-income countries using the socioecological resilience model.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Involving young people with lived experience in advancing mental health science: an exploratory qualitative study from Pakistan and India.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Help-seeking intentions and depression treatment beliefs amongst Sri Lankan Australians: A survey following a mental health literacy framework.Transcultural psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Mental illnesses are the leading cause of disease burden among children and young people (CYP) globally. Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are disproportionately affected. Enhancing mental health literacy (MHL) is one way to combat low levels of help-seeking and effective treatment receipt. We aimed to synthesis evidence about knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of CYP in LMICs about mental illnesses, their treatments and outcomes, evaluating factors that can enhance or impede help-seeking to inform context-specific and developmentally appropriate understandings of MHL. Eight bibliographic databases were searched from inception to July 2020: PsycInfo, EMBASE, Medline (OVID), Scopus, ASSIA (ProQuest), SSCI, SCI (Web of Science) CINAHL PLUS, Social Sciences full text (EBSCO). 58 papers (41 quantitative, 13 qualitative, 4 mixed methods) representing 52 separate studies comprising 36,429 participants with a mean age of 15.3 [10.4-17.4], were appraised and synthesized using narrative synthesis methods. Low levels of recognition and knowledge about mental health problems and illnesses, pervasive levels of stigma and low confidence in professional healthcare services, even when considered a valid treatment option were dominant themes. CYP cited the value of traditional healers and social networks for seeking help. Several important areas were under-researched including the link between specific stigma types and active help-seeking and research is needed to understand more fully the interplay between knowledge, beliefs and attitudes across varied cultural settings. Greater exploration of social networks and the value of collaboration with traditional healers is consistent with promising, yet understudied, areas of community-based MHL interventions combining education and social contact.
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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.