SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2025
Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to improve the mental health in men who have sex with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Digitally Adapting LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chinese Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV: User-Centered Design Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are vulnerable to mental health problems. Some psychosocial interventions showed different effects on various mental health aspects, but the exact pooled effect size was uncertain. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for mental health among MSM. Methods: We included randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies of psychosocial interventions aimed at improving the mental health of MSM. The outcomes were the effect sizes of overall mental health and specific aspects (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, stress, coping, emotion, social function and identity). The fixed-effect or random-effect model was adopted to calculate the effect sizes. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024551392). Results: We included 14 studies conducted between 2010 and 2024. The effect size of intervention for overall mental health status was 0.14 (95%CI: 0.08-0.21, n=14, I2 = 28.23%). The interventions had positive effects in depressive symptoms (Hedges' g=0.25, 95%CI: 0.09-0.41), anxiety symptoms (Hedges' g=0.20, 95%CI: 0.12-0.29), substance abuse (Hedges' g=0.19, 95%CI: 0.10-0.28), stress (Hedges' g=0.18, 95%CI: 0.03-0.33), coping (Hedges' g=0.21, 95%CI: 0.06-0.36), emotion (Hedges' g=0.16, 95%CI: 0.06-0.25), and identity (Hedges' g=0.19, 95%CI: 0.07-0.30). There was no publication bias. Conclusions: Psychosocial interventions have a small-to-moderate effect on improving the mental health status of the MSM. Our study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the intervention effect, with estimations of overall mental health status and some specific aspects. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42024551392.
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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.