Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36684024›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2022

Efficacy of school-based interventions for mental health problems in children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Antonio Jose Grande, Mauricio Scopel Hoffmann, Sara Evans-Lacko, Carolina Ziebold, Claudio Torres de Miranda, David Mcdaid, Cristiane Tomasi, Wagner Silva Ribeiro

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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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.

Antonio Jose GrandeDepartment of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil.
Mauricio Scopel HoffmannCare Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
Sara Evans-LackoCare Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
Carolina ZieboldDepartamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Claudio Torres de MirandaDepartment of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil.
David McdaidCare Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
Cristiane TomasiDepartment of Public Health, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, Brazil.
Wagner Silva RibeiroCare Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/R022763/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Implementation of interventions to treat child and adolescent mental health problems in schools could help fill the mental health care gap in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Most of the evidence available come from systematic reviews on mental health prevention and promotion, and there is less evidence on treatment strategies that can be effectively delivered in schools. The aim of this review was to identify what school-based interventions have been tested to treat children and adolescents in LMICs, and how effective they are. Methods: We conducted a systematic review including seven electronic databases. The search was carried out in October 2022. We included randomised or non-randomised studies that evaluated school-based interventions for children or adolescents aged 6-18 years living in LMICs and who had, or were at risk of developing, one or more mental health problems. Results: We found 39 studies with 43 different pairwise comparisons, treatment for attention-deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Conduct disorder (CD). Pooled SMD were statistically significant and showed that, overall, interventions were superior to comparators for PTSD (SMD = 0.61; 95% CI = 0.37-0.86), not statistically significant for anxiety (SMD = 0.11; 95% CI = -0.13 to 0.36), ADHD (SMD = 0.36; 95% CI = -0.15 to 0.87), and for depression (SMD = 0.80; 95% CI = -0.47 to 2.07). For CD the sample size was very small, so the results are imprecise. Conclusion: A significant effect was found if we add up all interventions compared to control, suggesting that, overall, interventions delivered in the school environment are effective in reducing mental health problems among children and adolescents. Systematic review registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=129376], identifier [CRD42019129376].

Indexed as

adolescentinterventionmental healthschoolsystematic reviews

Identifiers

PMID36684024
PMCPMC9852982

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.