Citation

Freţian AM, Graf P, Kirchhoff S, Glinphratum G, Bollweg TM, Sauzet O, Bauer U. Int. J. Public Health 2021; 66: e1604072.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.3389/ijph.2021.1604072

PMID

34975363

PMCID

PMC8714636

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.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent; Child; Humans; adolescents; Social Stigma; Mental Health; intervention; *Health Literacy; *Mental Disorders/therapy; long-term effectiveness; mental health literacy; mental illness; social distance; stigma