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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Dec 15:66:1604072.
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2021.1604072. eCollection 2021.

The Long-Term Effectiveness of Interventions Addressing Mental Health Literacy and Stigma of Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Alexandra Maria Freţian  1   2 , Patricia Graf  1 , Sandra Kirchhoff  1 , Gloria Glinphratum  1 , Torsten M Bollweg  1 , Odile Sauzet  2 , Ullrich Bauer  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The Long-Term Effectiveness of Interventions Addressing Mental Health Literacy and Stigma of Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Alexandra Maria Freţian et al. Int J Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on the long-term effects of interventions addressing children's and adolescents' mental health literacy and/or stigmatizing attitudes. Methods: Articles in English or German published between January 1997 and May 2020 were retrieved from five databases, leading to a total of 4,375 original articles identified. Results: 25 studies were included after applying exclusion criteria, 13 of which were eligible for meta-analysis. The overall average of the follow-up period was about 5 months. Long-term improvements were sustained for mental health literacy, d = 0.48, 95% CI = (0.34, 0.62), as well as for stigmatizing attitudes, d = 0.30, 95% CI = (0.24, 0.36), and social distance, d = 0.16, 95% CI = (0.03, 0.29). The combination of educational and contact components within interventions led to worse results for mental health literacy, but not stigmatizing attitudes or social distance. Conclusion: Interventions targeting children and adolescents generally have a brief follow-up period of an average of 5 months. They show a stable improvement in mental health literacy, but are to a lesser degree able to destigmatize mental illness or improve social distance.

Keywords: adolescents; intervention; long-term effectiveness; mental health literacy; mental illness; social distance; stigma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prisma flow-chart of papers included in the review regarding the long-term effectiveness of interventions addressing mental health literacy and stigma of mental illness in children and adolescents, search period: January 1997 to May 2020. Project: Improving mental health literacy to reduce stigma (IMPRES), Bielefeld, Germany, 03.2018 - 02.2021.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Evidence for effectiveness of interventions to improve MHL at follow-up assessment identified within the review regarding the effectiveness of long-term interventions addressing mental health literacy and stigma of mental illness in children and adolescents, search period: January 1997 to May 2020. Project: Improving mental health literacy to reduce stigma (IMPRES), Bielefeld, Germany, 03.2018 - 02.2021.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Evidence for effectiveness of interventions to reduce stigmatizing attitudes at follow-up assessment identified within the review regarding the effectiveness of long-term interventions addressing mental health literacy and stigma of mental illness in children and adolescents, search period: January 1997 to May 2020. Project: Improving mental health literacy to reduce stigma (IMPRES), Bielefeld, Germany, 03.2018 - 02.2021.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Evidence for effectiveness of interventions to reduce social distance at follow-up identified within the review regarding the effectiveness of long-term interventions addressing mental health literacy and stigma of mental illness in children and adolescents, search period: January 1997 to May 2020. Project: Improving mental health literacy to reduce stigma (IMPRES), Bielefeld, Germany, 03.2018 - 02.2021.
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