School-based intervention for depressive symptoms in upper secondary education: A focused review and meta-analysis of the effect of CBT-based prevention

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents in upper secondary school face the risk of increasing depressive symptoms due to expert learning requirements and related pressure. A high level of depressive symptoms elevates the risk of depressive disorder onset and reduces school performance. Although several reviews of school-based depression interventions have included broad age ranges of youth and adolescents, no extant review has focused on upper secondary school students. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of school-based cognitive behavioral therapy interventions on depressive symptoms in upper secondary school students. MethodElectronic databases and relevant current reviews were explored. The present review included school-based trials, cognitive behavioral strategies, and a self-report measure for depressive symptoms. ResultsOur search yielded 18 studies with a total of 3,121 participants. School-based interventions showed a small-to-moderate effect in reducing depressive symptoms compared with control conditions. School-based selective interventions led to significantly lower depressive symptoms than did control conditions, but school-based universal interventions did not exhibit such an effect. ConclusionSchool-based selective interventions may be effective at decreasing depression among upper secondary students. This study's findings indicate how strategy helps improve depressive symptoms in an upper secondary education setting. However, more high-quality trials, such as randomized control trials and trials with an attention control condition are needed for future research.