AUTHOR=Freţian Alexandra Maria , Graf Patricia , Kirchhoff Sandra , Glinphratum Gloria , Bollweg Torsten M. , Sauzet Odile , Bauer Ullrich 

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

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=66

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604072

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2021.1604072

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> 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.</p>