The following is a summary of “Prevalence of mental health conditions and effectiveness of psychological interventions among university students in Italy: A systematic literature review,” published in the December 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Caldarelli et al.
Researchers conducted a prospective study on mental health issues in Italian university students seeking help through university counseling services (UCS) and found counseling effective.
They systematically searched PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PsycCRITIQUES, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus up to December 17, 2023, following PRISMA guidelines. Using the PICO method, they included studies on UCS interventions in college students (P), focusing on psychological interventions and mental health outcomes (O). Excluded studies were non-peer-reviewed, qualitative, or lacked relevant data. Data was synthesized narratively, and study quality was assessed with a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The review was registered on OSF (osf.io/t2y9q).
The results showed 36 studies with 7,432 participants, including 5,390 females and 6,625 accessing UCS. Most studies used pre-post intervention (n = 21), cross-sectional (n = 12), and case-control (n = 3) designs, with data collected from 1983 to 2022, including 7 studies focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-report measures were commonly used. Psychological distress ranged from 63.2% to 92.7%, with depressive symptoms reported in 9–30% and up to 48.9%, and anxiety symptoms in 11.2–36%. Counseling interventions tested in 21 studies showed improvements in mental health, regardless of the approach used.
They identified high levels of psychological problems among UCS attendees and found counseling interventions effective as a first line (1L) service. Study limitations suggested the need for improved methodologies in future research.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178124004931#abs0002
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