ArticleBMJ open2022
Scoping review to evaluate the effects of peer support on the mental health of young adults.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06398561 (Peer-led Intervention for Individuals With Major Depression.), which is not on this map. Cited by 54 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Peer-led Intervention for Individuals With Major Depression.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 119 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perceived teacher support and student engagement among higher education students - a systematic literature review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Competencies and Implementation of Peer Support Interventions for People with Serious Mental Health Challenges: A Systematic Review.Harvard review of psychiatryPooled it
- Effect of group online-based peer support intervention on psychological distress of adolescent and young adult cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Trial
- An 8-Week Peer Health Coaching Intervention among College Students: A Pilot Randomized Study.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Transitions from child to adult mental health care: the evidence-base for ESCAP guidance for clinicians.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Acceptance, needs and demands of e-mental health interventions in adolescent elite athletes.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Childhood environment clusters reveal heterogeneous associations between large-scale brain networks and youth mental health symptoms.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Understanding the Impact of a Cleft Camp in Aotearoa New Zealand on Sociability, Self-Esteem, and Confidence.The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association · 2026Article
- Patient-reported outcomes following participation in a preoperative peer support programme for total knee replacement: A prospective observational cohort study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Young adults in times of overlapping social crises: dynamic profiles of mental health and crisis-related concerns using latent transition analysis.Globalization and health · 2026Article
- Effectiveness and Experiences of Online Mental Health Peer Support for Young People: Systematic Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Review
- Training peer supporters in a single-centre medical school: a mixed-methods evaluation using Kirkpatrick's Four-Level model.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Elevated prodromal psychotic symptoms lead to impaired social functioning via loneliness: A longitudinal mediation study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Enhancing care in alcohol-associated liver disease through peer support for alcohol use disorder.Hepatology communications · 2026Review
- Long-term enhancement mechanisms of peer support on college students' mental health: testing a chain mediation model based on three-year longitudinal tracking.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Structural heterogeneity of the psychosocial network in adolescent depression: a comparison between first-episode and recurrent patients.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Psychosocial risk for substance use in 80,000 Mexican undergraduates: mental health and academic strain.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Mental Health First Aid Training as a Wellness Initiative for First Year Medical Students.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Article
- Living with uncertainty: associations of personal and environmental uncertainty, resilience, and self-efficacy with anxiety symptoms in young adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesYoung adults report disproportionality greater mental health problems compared with the rest of the population with numerous barriers preventing them from seeking help. Peer support, defined as a form of social-emotional support offered by an individual with a shared lived experience, has been reported as being effective in improving a variety of mental health outcomes in differing populations. The objective of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the literature investigating the impact of peer support on the mental health of young adults.
designA scoping review methodology was used to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines across six databases and Google/Google Scholar. Overall, 17 eligible studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review.
resultsOverall, studies suggest that peer support is associated with improvements in mental health including greater happiness, self-esteem and effective coping, and reductions in depression, loneliness and anxiety. This effect appears to be present among university students, non-student young adults and ethnic/sexual minorities. Both individual and group peer support appear to be beneficial for mental health with positive effects also being present for those providing the support.
conclusionsPeer support appears to be a promising avenue towards improving the mental health of young adults, with lower barriers to accessing these services when compared with traditional mental health services. The importance of training peer supporters and the differential impact of peer support based on the method of delivery should be investigated in future research.
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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.