SynthesisBMC public health2022
The role of school connectedness in the prevention of youth depression and anxiety: a systematic review with youth consultation.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 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
64 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Annual Research Review: Associations of socioeconomic status with cognitive function, language ability, and academic achievement in youth: a systematic review of mechanisms and protective factors.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Pooled it
- Youth Empowered Self-Care: a direct-to-participant intervention to promote mental well-being.BMC public health · 2026Trial
- Comparing Depression and Anxiety Symptom Networks in Chinese Students and Teachers.International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · 2026Article
- Bidirectional Relationship Between Family and School Interpersonal Relationships and Internalizing Problems Among Chinese High School Students.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Trends in Pediatric Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits During the School Year and School Breaks.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Reducing Emotional Burden Carried by Neurodivergent Students in School: Perspectives From Students and School Staff.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Multidimensional Social Interaction and School Refusal Tendency Among Elementary and Junior High School Students: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study with an Exploratory Indirect-Association Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dyslexia, School-Connectedness, Depression, and Anxiety During the Transition From Primary to Secondary School.Dyslexia (Chichester, England) · 2026Article
- Social Isolation, Related Constructs and Problematic School Attendance Problems in Adolescence: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Protective Paradox: Can School Connectedness Buffer Socioeconomic Disparities in Adolescent Mental Health?Journal of adolescence · 2026Article
- Positive youth development from early adolescence to young adulthood in nine countries: Intercepts, trajectories, and associations with parental warmth and behavioral control.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2026Article
- Mental well-being in 15-19-year-old adolescents and poor school connectedness, dropout, and NEET status: a prospective cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Mental Health Symptoms: The Role of Peer Interactions.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Co-Creation of Mental Health Intervention for Adolescents: A Social Hackathon Approach.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Racial Variation in Adolescent Depressive Symptoms : The Interplay of Neighborhoods, Schools, Discrimination, and Family Resilience.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Annual Research Review: Improving school climate to improve child and adolescent mental health and reduce inequalities.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Review
- Gambling disorder as a risk factor for suicidal ideation in medical students.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties in gender minority compared to cisgender adolescents: identity specific findings from a contemporary national study.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- The Association Between Youth Screentime, Suicide Behaviors, and Protective and Risk Factors in a United States Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Sample.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Uncovering Latent Structures of School Belonging, Emotional Problems, Psychological Symptoms, Meaningful School, and Ostracism: A Latent Profile Analysis.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSchool connectedness reflects the quality of students' engagement with peers, teachers, and learning in the school environment. It has attracted attention from both the health and education sectors as a potentially modifiable protective factor for common mental health problems. However, the extent to which school connectedness may prevent the onset of youth depression or anxiety or promote their remission is unclear. This systematic review examined evidence for prospective relationships between school connectedness and depression and anxiety, and the effect of interventions to improve school connectedness on depression and anxiety.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ERIC electronic databases for peer-reviewed quantitative longitudinal, or intervention studies published from 2011-21 in English examining relationships between school connectedness and anxiety and/or depression. Participants were 14-24 years old when depression and anxiety outcomes were assessed in any education setting in any country. We partnered with five youth advisers (aged 16-21 years) with lived experience of mental health problems and/or the schooling system in Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to ensure that youth perspectives informed the review.
resultsOur search identified 3552 unique records from which 34 longitudinal and 2 intervention studies were ultimately included. Studies were primarily from the United States of America (69.4%). Depression and anxiety outcomes were first measured at 14 years old, on average. Most studies found a significant protective relationship between higher levels of school connectedness and depressive and/or anxiety symptoms; more measured depression than anxiety. A few studies found a non-significant relationship. Both intervention studies designed to increase school connectedness improved depression, one through improvements in self-esteem and one through improvements in relationships at school.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that school connectedness may be a novel target for the prevention of depression and anxiety. We were not able to determine whether improving school connectedness promotes remission in young people already experiencing depression and anxiety. More studies examining anxiety, diagnostic outcomes, and beyond North America are warranted, as well as intervention trials.
trial registrationPROSPERO 2021 CRD42021270967.
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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.