ReviewInternational journal of mental health systems2024
Psychosocial interventions for depression among young people in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in International journal of mental health systems, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of group-based art interventions for late-life depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The African youth in mind (Y-MIND) brief psychological intervention for depression among school-going adolescents in Ghana: a development case series.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Nonlinear threshold and association of depressive symptoms with pain in middle-aged and older Chinese adults: a cross-sectional and cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Psychosocial interventions for depression and anxiety for female adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa: a protocol for the systematic literature review and lived experience synthesis.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Illness explanatory models of depression among young people in low-resource settings: A qualitative study in Ghana and Zimbabwe.PloS one · 2026Article
- Predicting the Deviation from the Standard Study Period and Dropout Intentions Through Depression Severity and Social Integration Among University Students in Germany: A Longitudinal Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Validation of the Child Depression Screening Tool in three African settings: Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDepression among young people is a global health problem due to its rising prevalence and negative physical and social outcomes. The prevalence of depression and the treatment gap among young people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is higher than global estimates. Most psychosocial interventions for adolescent and youth depression were developed in high-income countries and less is known about their effectiveness in SSA. Due to contextual differences, findings from High-Income Countries (HICs) are less applicable to SSA. Yet, no systematic review of psychosocial interventions for depression among young people in SSA has been conducted.
methodsA systematic literature search of four databases (Medline, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Cochrane library) was conducted. Experimental studies published before May 2024 that evaluated the effect of psychosocial interventions on depressive symptoms among young people (aged 10-24 years) in SSA were included in the systematic review. Effect sizes (Hedge's g (g)) indicating differences between intervention and control groups were calculated using a random effects model.
resultsTwenty-two eligible studies were identified for the systematic review, of which eighteen randomized control trials (RCTs) involving 2338 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The findings revealed that psychosocial interventions significantly reduced depressive symptoms (g = -1.55, 95% CI -2.48, -0.63), although heterogeneity was high (I
conclusionPsychosocial interventions, particularly CBT, significantly reduced depressive symptoms among young people in SSA. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the high heterogeneity which likely stems from variations in study populations and intervention delivery modalities. This highlights the need for further research to identify the specific intervention components and delivery methods that work best for distinct subpopulations. Future research should also explore how long intervention effects are maintained and factors affecting efficacy.
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