The impact of school-based creative bibliotherapy interventions on child and adolescent mental health: a systematic review and realist synthesis protocol

Hayley Redman; G J Melendez-Torres; Alison Bethel; Judith Green

doi:10.1186/s13643-024-02482-8

The impact of school-based creative bibliotherapy interventions on child and adolescent mental health: a systematic review and realist synthesis protocol

Syst Rev. 2024 Mar 13;13(1):86. doi: 10.1186/s13643-024-02482-8.

Authors

Hayley Redman¹, G J Melendez-Torres², Alison Bethel³, Judith Green⁴

Affiliations

¹ Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. hlrr201@exeter.ac.uk.
² Department of Public Health and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
³ NIHR ARC South West Peninsula (PenARC) University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
⁴ Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.

Abstract

Background: There is a need to identify evidence-based interventions to be delivered in schools that can be used to improve child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Creative bibliotherapy is one proposed intervention. However, there has been, to date, no comprehensive assessment of the evidence for its impact on mental health and wellbeing. To fill this gap, we will conduct a systematic review and realist synthesis.

Methods: A systematic search of the bibliographic databases APA PsycINFO, Medline (via Ovid), CINAHL, ERIC, Education Research Complete (via EBSCOhost) and Web of Science (SCI, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI) for school-based creative bibliotherapy interventions on child and adolescent mental health. Types of study to be included: cohort studies, non-randomised comparative evaluations, randomised controlled trials. The data from all included studies will be summarised descriptively and strength of evidence appraised. This is a potentially large field of practice, with heterogeneous interventions; we will use methods from intervention components analysis to describe and categorise the range of components and approaches used in included interventions. To understand how interventions work and in which contexts, we will use methods from realist synthesis to develop an exploratory account of mechanisms in different settings and for different young people (contexts).

Discussion: Findings will assess the range of evidence for the impact of creative bibliotherapy on child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing, the strength of evidence for the impact identified, and describe potential mechanisms. This review will be useful for a wide range of stakeholders considering implementing or developing interventions using creative bibliotherapy in school-based settings.

Systematic review registration: This protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ ), registration number CRD42023410333. This review is funded by Wellcome Trust (221457/Z/20/Z).

Keywords: Bibliotherapy; Child and adolescent mental health; Schools.

Publication types

Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Health
Bibliotherapy*
Child
Humans
Mental Health*
Schools*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding