Effectiveness and Moderators of Wise Interventions in Reducing Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Among Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.
Melisa Parlak, Gonzalo Salazar de Pablo, Patrick Nyikavaranda et al.
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In 30 seconds
This pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis examined randomised controlled trials of wise interventions (WIs), which aim to reshape how people interpret experiences, for depressive and anxiety symptoms among youth. Across 16 RCTs, WIs had small, statistically significant effects on depressive symptoms after intervention (g = 0.22; p = 0.00) and anxiety symptoms after intervention (g = 0.20; p = 0.00) and at 3-month follow-up (g = 0.09; p = 0.02). Gratitude interventions and online delivery showed the strongest post-intervention effects for depression; moderation findings for other endpoints were equivocal.
Key findings
- WIs reduced depressive symptoms by a small amount post-intervention (g = 0.22; p = 0.00).
- Effects on anxiety symptoms were small post-intervention (g = 0.20; p = 0.00) and at 3-month follow-up (g = 0.09; p = 0.02).
- For post-intervention depressive symptoms, gratitude interventions had the strongest reported effect (g = 0.29; p = 0.04), as did online delivery (g = 0.35; p = 0.03).
Why it matters
The findings suggest that interventions focused on reframing experiences may offer modest support for youth depressive and anxiety symptoms. The reported effects for gratitude-based and online approaches may help inform further evaluation of intervention formats, while the small effect sizes and equivocal moderation results counsel against assuming that benefits are large or consistent across approaches.
What to keep in mind
The pooled effects were small, and moderation analyses for other endpoints were equivocal. The abstract does not report the age range, study quality results, or longer-term outcomes.