Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39201822›Full record

ReviewChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2024

Effect of Summer Holiday Programs on Children's Mental Health and Well-Being: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Emily Eglitis, Catherine Simpson, Ben Singh, Timothy Olds, Amanda Machell, Rosa Virgara, Mandy Richardson, Kylie Brannelly, Aniella Grant, Jessica Gray and 3 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

13 authors.

Emily EglitisAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0586-8047
Catherine SimpsonAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Ben SinghAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7227-2406
Timothy OldsAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Amanda MachellAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Rosa VirgaraAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7717-7715
Mandy RichardsonDepartment for Education, Government of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Kylie BrannellyNational Outside School Hours Services Alliance (NOSHA), Woodend, QLD 4305, Australia.
Aniella GrantAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Jessica GrayAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Terri WilkinsonAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Zoe RixAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
Carol MaherAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8676-0224

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Poor youth mental health is an area of global concern. Summer holiday programs may provide environments that support mental health when the structures and supports of school are not available. The aim of this review was to determine the effectiveness of summer holiday programs in improving the mental health, social-emotional well-being, and cognitive (non-academic) outcomes of children and adolescents. Studies of summer holiday programs for school-aged children (5-18 years) were included if they measured any mental, socio-emotional or cognitive (non-academic) outcome. Studies were excluded if they were published prior to 2000, targeted clinical populations or lasted less than five days. Six databases were searched (April 2023). Risk of bias was assessed using the PEDro tool. Study outcomes were grouped according to three main constructs: mental health (psychological well-being, anxiety, depression, distress, and self-perception including self-esteem, self-worth, self-concept, confidence, and competence); social-emotional well-being (behavior and social skills, e.g., communication, bullying, conflict resolution, empathy, and social skills); and cognitive function (memory, selective attention, and executive function). A fourth "other" group captured substance use, personality traits, character skills, and values. Effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference between pre- and post-intervention scores. The synthesis involved a random-effects meta-analysis (presented in forest plots), where possible, with the remaining outcomes narratively synthesized. Twenty-six studies (n = 6812 participants) were included. The results of the meta-analysis suggested that summer programs showed a statistically non-significant trend toward reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression (k = 2 studies, SMD = -0.17, 95% CI -2.94, 2.60), psychological distress (k = 2 studies, SMD -0.46, 95% CI -1.71, 0.79), and no effect on self-esteem (k = 6 studies, SMD = 0.02, 95% CI -0.02, 0.06) or self-worth (k = 3 studies, SMD = 0.05, 95% CI 0.00, 0.11). Narrative syntheses indicated a pattern toward improvements in general mental health, self-perception, social-emotional outcomes, and cognition. Studies were generally small, with a high risk of bias. Summer holiday programs for children and adolescents show trends toward improving mental, social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Programs targeting disadvantaged children showed stronger patterns of improvement related to mental health and self-perception than programs targeting the general population. While effect sizes are small to negligible, they consistently indicate improvements. Summer programs present a promising avenue to promote mental health in children; however, further rigorously designed, clearly reported control-group studies are required to more fully understand their effects.

Indexed as

anxietychildrencognitiondepressiondistressmental healthsummer campswell-being

Identifiers

PMID39201822
PMCPMC11352663

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.