Evidence-based long term interventions targeting acute mental health presentations for children and adolescents: systematic review

Brigitte Gerstl; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah; Thomas P Nguyen; James Rufus John; Patrick Hawker; Teresa Winata; Febe Brice; Michael Bowden; Valsamma Eapen

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1324220

Evidence-based long term interventions targeting acute mental health presentations for children and adolescents: systematic review

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Mar 6:15:1324220. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1324220. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Brigitte Gerstl^{1

2}, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah^{1

2

3}, Thomas P Nguyen^{1

2

4}, James Rufus John^{1

2}, Patrick Hawker^{1

2}, Teresa Winata^{1

2

5}, Febe Brice¹, Michael Bowden^{6

7

8}, Valsamma Eapen^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Academic Unit of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry Services (AUCS), South Western Sydney Local Health District and Ingham Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ School of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Mental Health, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS), South Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ Child and Youth Mental Health, NSW Ministry of Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁷ Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Psychological Medicine, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Long term intervention services have proven to be effective in improving mental health (MH) outcomes and the quality of life for children and young people (CYP).

Aim: To synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of long-term interventions in improving MH outcomes for CYP, 0-17 years, presenting with MH conditions.

Methods: A systematic search was carried out and the methodological quality of included long term MH intervention studies were assessed. Six databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles between January 2000 and September 2022.

Results: We found 30 studies that reported on the effectiveness of a range of long-term MH interventions in the form of (i) group therapy, (ii) multisystemic behavior therapy, (iii) general services, (iv) integrated services, (v) psychotherapy, (vi) intensive intervention services, (vii) comprehensive collaborative care, (viii) parent training, and (ix) home outreach service. Among the included studies, seven were rated as high level of evidence based on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) levels of evidence hierarchy scale and seven were of moderate quality evidence. Others were rated as lower-quality evidence. Among the studies providing high quality evidence, most were reported for group therapy, general services, and psychotherapy studies demonstrating beneficial effects.

Conclusion: This systematic review provides evidence to demonstrate the benefits of a range of long-term interventions, in a range of settings, can be effective in improving MH outcomes for CYP and their families.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022323324.

Keywords: child and adolescent mental health services; evidence base; mental health intervention; mental health services; psychological distress.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research study was funded by the NSW Ministry of Health, Australia.