Mediators in Psychological Treatments for Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents and Young People: A Protocol of a Systematic Review

Sonia Conejo-Cerón; Svenja Taubner; Erkki Heinonen; Asta Adler; Rasa Barkauskiene; Dina Di Giacomo; Yianna Ioannou; Jose M Mestre; Margarida Rangel Henriques; Catarina Pinheiro Mota; Sonja Protić; Marija Raleva; Filipa Mucha Vieira; Jan Ivar Røssberg; Célia M D Sales; Andrea Saliba; Stefanie J Schmidt; Tjaša Stepišnik Perdih; Randi Ulberg; Jana Volkert; Patricia Moreno-Peral

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708436

Mediators in Psychological Treatments for Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents and Young People: A Protocol of a Systematic Review

Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 21:12:708436. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708436. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Sonia Conejo-Cerón¹, Svenja Taubner², Erkki Heinonen³, Asta Adler⁴, Rasa Barkauskiene⁴, Dina Di Giacomo⁵, Yianna Ioannou⁶, Jose M Mestre⁷, Margarida Rangel Henriques^{8

9}, Catarina Pinheiro Mota^{9

10}, Sonja Protić¹¹, Marija Raleva¹², Filipa Mucha Vieira^{8

9}, Jan Ivar Røssberg^{13

14}, Célia M D Sales^{8

9}, Andrea Saliba¹⁵, Stefanie J Schmidt¹⁶, Tjaša Stepišnik Perdih¹⁷, Randi Ulberg^{13

18}, Jana Volkert^{2

19}, Patricia Moreno-Peral¹

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
² Institute for Psychosocial Prevention, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
³ National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁵ Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
⁶ Department of Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Universidad de Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
⁸ Faculty of Psychology and Education Science, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁹ Center for Psychology at University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁰ Departamento de Educação e Psicologia, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
¹¹ Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, Belgrade, Serbia.
¹² Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Clinic Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia.
¹³ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁴ Psychiatric Research Unit, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁵ University of Malta, Mental Health Services Malta, Msida, Malta.
¹⁶ Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
¹⁷ School of Advanced Social Studies, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
¹⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁹ MSB Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety and depressive disorders are a significant problem that starts in childhood or adolescence and should be addressed early to avoid chronic mental conditions. There is strong evidence to demonstrate that psychological treatments are effective for these disorders, however, little is known on mediators and mechanisms of change of psychological treatment in adolescents and young adults. Understanding the pathways through which psychological treatments operate will facilitate more effective treatments.

Aim: We aim to conduct a systematic review, exploring the available evidence on mediators of psychological treatments for anxiety and depression in adolescents and young adults.

Methods: A systematic search has been performed on PubMed and PsycINFO databases to identify studies from inception to 23rd February 2020. Eligible studies include randomized controlled trials and trials (quasi-experimental) designs that have enrolled adolescents and young adults presenting with depression and/or anxiety and that have examined mediators of psychological treatments. A group of 20 reviewers from the COST-Action TREATme (CA16102) divided into 10 pairs independently screen studies for inclusion, extract information from the included studies, and assess the methodological quality of the included studies and the requirements for mediators. The methodological quality will be assessed by The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Extracted data from the included studies will be collected and presented using a narrative approach.

Discussion: This systematic review will summarize and provide a comprehensive overview of the current evidence on mediators of psychological treatments for anxiety and depression for adolescents and young adults. Results will allow the identification of strategies to optimize intervention to enhance clinical outcomes.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval is not required. Findings from this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated at conferences and meetings. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021234641.

Keywords: adolescence; anxiety; depression; mediator; psychotherapy; systematic review; young adult.

Copyright © 2021 Conejo-Cerón, Taubner, Heinonen, Adler, Barkauskiene, Di Giacomo, Ioannou, Mestre, Henriques, Mota, Protić, Raleva, Vieira, Røssberg, Sales, Saliba, Schmidt, Perdih, Ulberg, Volkert and Moreno-Peral.