Background Poor mental health among university students remains a pressing public health issue. Over the past few years, digital health interventions have been developed and considered promising in increasing psychological wellbeing among university students. Therefore, this umbrella review aims to synthesize evidence on digital health interventions targeting university students and to evaluate their effectiveness. Methods A systematic literature search was performed in April 2021 searching PubMed, Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection, Web of Science, ERIC, and Scopus for systematic reviews and meta-analyses on digital mental health interventions targeting university students. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO [CRD42021234773]. Results The initital literature search resulted in 806 records of which seven remained after duplicates were removed and evaluated against the inclusion criteria. Effectiveness was reported and categorized into the following six delivery types: (a) web-based, online/computer-delivered interventions (b) computer-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), (c) mobile applications and short message service (d) virtual reality interventions (e) skills training (f) relaxation and exposure-based therapy. Results indicated web-based online/computer delivered-interventions were effective or at least partially effective at decressing depression, anxiety, stress and eating disorder symptoms. This was similar for skills-training interventions, CBT-based intervention and mobile applications. However, digital mental health interventions using virtual reality and relaxation, exposure-based therapy was inconclusive. Due to the variation in study settings and inconsistencies in reporting, effectiveness was greatly dependent on the delivery format, targeted mental health problem and targeted purpose group. Conclusion The findings provide evidence for the beneficial effect of digital mental health interventions for university students. However, this review calls for a more systematic approach in testing and reporting the effectiveness of digital mental health interventions.
In Sport for Development (SFD), sport is used as a cost-effective tool to facilitate the objectives of various organizations, not limited to increasing access to education, youth development, social cohesion, and gender equality. This review aims to systematically analyze SFD programs that contribute to gender equality and women empowerment under Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5). The PRISMA methodology was used to guide the screening and selection process. Fifteen studies were identified from the Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases, the Journal of Sport for Development, forward–backward reference searches, and manual searches on four prominent sport, gender, and development researchers. The findings indicated that there was evidence of micro-level outcomes in every study and three achieved meso-level impact; however, none of these studies’ suggested changes have reached the macro-level of impact when the outcomes were reported in these articles. There was a lack of intervention studies that investigated the mechanisms and reported outcomes through a validated monitoring and evaluation process. This review provides significant insights into: (a) identifying future SFD research areas, (b) refining SFD program evaluations, (c) developing indicators of outcomes for sport programs contributing to SDG 5, and (d) reproducing sustainable development outcomes under SDG 5.
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