Review: Universal mental health interventions for young students in adverse environments - a systematic review of evaluated interventions
Open accessAbstract
Background: Universal classroom‐based interventions are a useful method to increase the mental health and resilience in children. Resilience describes the process that leads to a positive development despite adversities. It comprises the seven resources access to material resources, relationships, identity, power and control, cultural adherence, social justice and cohesion. Yet there is a paucity of studies evaluating interventions that enhance resilience in children exposed to adverse childhood experiences. Method: This systematic review investigates whether universal classroom‐based interventions can increase the seven resilience‐related resources in children that live in adverse environments. Search strings were formulated based on an adapted version of the PICO criteria. The risk of bias of the individual studies was assessed using the ROBINS‐I tool. Results: Seventeen studies were included in the review, of which 15 found an increase in resilience. The resource power and control was targeted in every intervention. Not one intervention included all seven resources. Intervention outcomes related mostly to just two of the resources ( power and control and identity ) and were rarely linked to what was being trained in the intervention. Conclusion: The results of this review show that classroom‐based interventions are suitable for promoting resilience in children living in adverse environments. Yet more high‐quality studies are needed that evaluate the effectiveness of universal interventions on children living in adverse environments and specifically the effectiveness of training each of the seven resources. Future developments of school‐based interventions should be careful to target and assess all resilience‐related resources.
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Other studies of school-based interventions have reported promoting resilience in children exposed to adverse childhood experiences.
“and promoting resilience in children exposed to adverse childhood experiences. 100”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [100]
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The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health
McGorry, P. D., Mei, C., Dalal, N., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Blakemore, S.-J., Browne, V., Dooley, B., Hickie, I. B., Jones, P. B., McDaid, D., et al. (2024) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00163-9 · Cited by 663 · see citing works
- Authors
- Higgen, S., Mueller, J. T., & Mösko, M.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Higgen, Sanna
- Venue
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-07-30
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 281-293
- ISSN
- 1475-357X (ISSN-L)
- 1475-3588
- OpenAlex
- W3183999745
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 0.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Hans Böckler Stiftung
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › School Health and Nursing Education
- Keywords
- classroom intervention, resilience, adverse childhood experiences, school-based intervention, power and control, identity, social cohesion, social justice, relationships, material resources
- MeSH terms
- Child, Humans, Mental Health, Schools, Students, Bias, Qualitative Research
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