Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions

Joseph A. Durlak, Roger P. Weissberg, Allison B. Dymnicki, Rebecca D. Taylor, Kriston B. Schellinger

Child Development • Summary & key facts • 2011 • 8,084 citations

This meta-analysis combined results from 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten-through-high-school students. Compared with control groups, students in SEL programs showed better social and emotional skills, attitudes, and behavior, and their school achievement was higher by about 11 percentile points. Regular school teaching staff…

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Early Childhood Education and Development Parental Involvement in Education

Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review

Amelia Aldao, Susan Nolen–Hoeksema, Susanne Schweizer

PubMed • Summary & key facts • 2010 • 6,290 citations

This meta-analysis combined 241 effect sizes from 114 studies to test how six habitual emotion-regulation strategies relate to symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance-related problems. Rumination showed the strongest (large) link with symptoms. Avoidance, problem solving, and suppression showed medium-to-large links, while reappraisal and acceptance showed smaller (small-to-medium)…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Mental Health Research Topics

The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses

Stefan G. Hofmann, Anu Asnaani, Imke J. J. Vonk, Alice T. Sawyer, Angela Fang

Cognitive Therapy and Research • Summary & key facts • 2012 • 3,230 citations

This 2012 paper reviewed meta-analyses on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The authors found 269 meta-analytic studies and examined a representative sample of 106 reviews across many problems. They reported the strongest support for CBT for anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, bulimia, anger control problems, and general stress. The paper concluded the…

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Mortality Rates in Patients With Anorexia Nervosa and Other Eating Disorders

Jon Arcelus, Alex J. Mitchell, Jackie Wales, Søren Nielsen

Archives of General Psychiatry • Summary & key facts • 2011 • 2,760 citations

This fact sheet reports that people with eating disorders have higher death rates than the general population. Death rates are highest for anorexia nervosa (AN). Bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) have similar death rates. The sheet says older age at assessment was linked to higher…

Eating Disorders and Behaviors Impact of Technology on Adolescents Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders

Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review

Edward Chesney, Guy M. Goodwin, Seena Fazel

World Psychiatry • Summary & key facts • 2014 • 2,040 citations

This study reviewed systematic reviews to measure death risks in major mental disorders. The authors screened 407 reviews and found 20 that reported mortality risks for 20 different disorders, covering over 1.7 million patients and more than a quarter of a million deaths. Every disorder showed higher all-cause death rates…

Bipolar Disorder and Treatment Mental Health Treatment and Access Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis

Alberto Chiesa, Alessandro Serretti

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine • Summary & key facts • 2009 • 1,686 citations

MBSR is able to reduce stress levels in healthy people. However, important limitations of the included studies as well as the paucity of evidence about possible specific effects of MBSR in comparison to other nonspecific treatments underline the necessity of further research.

COVID-19 and Mental Health Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Resilience and Mental Health

The effects of physical activity on cortisol and sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Len De Nys, Kerry Anderson, Esther Frema Ofosu, Gemma C. Ryde, Jenni Connelly, Anna C. Whittaker

Psychoneuroendocrinology • Summary & key facts • 2022 • 227 citations

This review combined results from 10 intervention studies to see if physical activity programs change cortisol (a stress hormone) and sleep in adults. The pooled results found lower cortisol after activity programs and some improvement in sleep quality. The authors say the evidence is moderate for cortisol and low for…

Circadian rhythm and melatonin Physical Activity and Health Sleep and related disorders

Meditation and yoga for posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials

Autumn M. Gallegos, Hugh F. Crean, Wilfred R. Pigeon, Kathi L. Heffner

Clinical Psychology Review • Summary & key facts • 2017 • 178 citations

This paper pooled results from 19 randomized trials with 1,173 adults to see if meditation and yoga change PTSD symptoms. Overall, these mind–body practices were linked to a small-to-medium reduction in PTSD symptoms (effect size = −0.39). The authors found no big differences by type of practice, who was studied,…

Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Resilience and Mental Health

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Social Media Exposure to Upward Comparison Targets on Self-Evaluations and Emotions

Carly McComb, Eric J. Vanman, Stephanie J. Tobin

Media Psychology • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 100 citations

This meta-analysis combined 48 experimental studies with 7,679 people to test how seeing “upward” comparison targets on social media (people who seem better off) affects users’ feelings about themselves. Overall, exposure to upward comparisons produced a small but statistically significant negative effect on self-evaluations and emotions (g = −0.24, p…

Behavioral Health and Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Media Influence and Health

Effectiveness of Digital Mental Health Tools to Reduce Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Jiyeong Kim, Lois Maame Donkor Aryee, Heejung Bang, Steffi Prajogo, Yong Kyung Choi, Jeffrey S. Hoch, et al.

JMIR Mental Health • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 63 citations

The researchers did a large, careful search for studies of digital mental health tools (things like websites, phone apps, text messages, or online therapy) aimed at reducing depression and anxiety in low- and middle-income countries. They only kept randomized controlled trials, which are studies where people are randomly put into…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Mental Health Research Topics

Psychotherapies for Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Adults: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

Davide Papola, Clara Miguel, Mariacristina Mazzaglia, Pamela Franco, Federico Tedeschi, Sara A Romero, et al.

PubMed Central (PMC) • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 63 citations

This review combined 65 randomized trials with 5,048 adults who had generalized anxiety disorder. The authors found that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was linked with better short-term and long-term outcomes than treatment as usual. Third‑wave CBTs and relaxation therapy were linked with short-term benefits, but after removing studies judged to…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Mental Health Research Topics

Associations between perfectionism and symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in young people: a meta-analysis

Jessica Lunn, Danyelle Greene, Thomas Callaghan, Sarah J. Egan

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 49 citations

This meta-analysis combined 121 studies (from 4,927 articles found) about young people aged 6–24 (pooled mean age ≈ 17.7 years). It found that perfectionistic concerns (worry about making mistakes, fear of negative evaluation) were moderately linked to more symptoms of anxiety (r = .37–.41), OCD (r = .42), and depression…

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies