Psychological Interventions in a Pandemic Emergency: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Studies

Abstract

Background: The study aim was to review the evidence and effectiveness of psychological interventions applied during Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Methods: A literature search was run from April 2020 to April 2021. The inclusion criteria were: (1) RCTs or observational studies; (2) professional health carers and patients who had contracted coronavirus during the pandemic; (3) adults and elderly people with a viral infection diagnosis; (4) suitable measures to assess intervention effectiveness on clinical status and psychological and behavioral aspects. An internal validity assessment was planned using robvis. Data were synthesized according to PICO criteria. Results: A total of 12 studies were selected. Studies measuring mental health outcomes demonstrated the greatest reduction in symptoms, with eight out of the twelve studies demonstrating a reduction in symptoms that reached statistical significance (p < 0.05) and four of the studies reaching a higher significance level of p < 0.01. The type of psychological intervention was predominantly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). All studies except one was run online. Conclusion: Psychological interventions have a benefit on mental health outcomes, even if performed online. In particular, CBT seems to be the psychological intervention that is used more and also seems to have a larger effect size on the mitigation of mental health symptoms and increasing resilience.

Remote mental health care interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: An umbrella review

“…Moreover, reviewing meta-analytic findings of comparative efficacy or effectiveness of remote interventions during the pandemic was beyond the scope of our review (e.g. D'onofrio et al, 2022;Doherty et al, 2021).…”

PTSS in COVID-19 survivors peritraumatic stress symptoms among COVID-19 survivors in Iraq

“…Regarding treatment approaches, the most evidence-based treatment is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) which has been tested during Covid-19 and found to be very effective (Ferrario et al, 2021 ; Sun et al, 2021 ; D’Onofrio et al, 2022 ), especially technology-assisted CBT (Fathi Ashtiani et al, 2020 ) that can prevent the spread of infection during the pandemic. Perhaps considering a one-to-one model not be a reasonable option to the already overwhelmed capacity Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have in terms of qualified mental health professionals.…”

Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in people with post COVID-19 condition: study protocol for a multiple baseline n-of-1 trial

“…In light of the aforementioned psychological negative consequences of the pandemic, it might be reasonable to think that patients with COVID-19, and especially those with long COVID-19, would receive evidence-based psychological interventions to overcome EDs. Different systematic reviews indicated that psychological interventions are available in the context of COVID-19 for the general population and students ( D’Onofrio et al, 2022 ; Komariah et al, 2022 ), professionals and informal caregivers ( Bertuzzi et al, 2021 ), relatives ( Yue et al, 2020 ), or even COVID-19 patients ( Rahmati and Khalili, 2022 ). Results from these systematic reviews indicate that psychological interventions could be effective in the management of EDs in the context of COVID-19 conditions, however, some needs are not properly addressed.…”