Resilience Programs for Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Resilience may be defined as the ability to recover and adapt to adverse situations. Given that resilience involves cognitive and behavioral aspects, it could be promoted based on strategies that favor them, especially during childhood and adolescence. As a result, several resilience-focused programs have been developed and studied. This systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) aimed to assess resilience-focused programs for children (<12 years old) and adolescents (12–22 years old) compared to active (treatment as usual, other program modalities, and educational curriculum at school) or inactive (waiting list, no treatment) control groups. We performed a systematic review of meta-analyses of RCTs. The following databases were searched: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO. Two authors independently selected the studies, extracted the data, and assessed the studies’ risk of bias. Meta-analyses of random effects were conducted to calculate the standard mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of program effectiveness. Of the 17 RCTs that met the inclusion criteria, 13 provided sufficient data to assess the effectiveness of the programs after their implementation. Meta-analyses indicated overall effectiveness of the programs in promoting resilience (SMD = 0.48, 95% CI [0.15, 0.81], p = 0.0077). The subgroup analysis indicated effectiveness only among adolescents’ resilience (SMD = 0.48, 95% CI [0.08, 0.88], p = 0.02). The follow-up analysis also indicated evidence of continuation of results within a period of up to 6 months up (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI [−0.44, 0.69], p = 0.02). These results indicated the effectiveness of promoting resilience, especially in adolescents, and its continuation in follow-up analyses. These findings are promising in the field of resilience programs; however, further studies are necessary to analyze the different possible characteristics of programs and their results.Clinical Trial Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020179874], [CRD42020179874].

A qualitative study exploring adolescents’ perspectives of resilience trainings for chronic medical conditions

“…Another important criterion for successful coaching implementation was an interactive, gami ed design of the sessions. Some studies have demonstrated similar results for resilience coachings, but mainly focus on the experiences of healthy children (7,39).…”

“…55 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years with CMC were recruited. Participants were included if (1) aged between 12 and 16 years old (2) having a CMC de ned as having a disease for over a year, mandatory long-term medical care or a signi cant impairment of daily life routine, (3) adequate knowledge of German for app play and coaching participation(assessed by parents or treating clinician), (4) su cient physical and mental condition for study participation (assessed with Lansky score (30)), (5) access to an Internet-enabled smartphone, (6) a signed informed consent form by both parents and participant (7) and no prior history of psychiatric or psychological treatment in the last three months or longer than three months.…”

Fostering Resilience in Adolescents at Risk: Study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial within the resilience school-based intervention

“…The present study is very powerful because: (1) the content validity of the intervention was determined by nine experts and two adolescents at risk from the multidisciplinary expert committee; (2) it will promote different factors related to resilience, such as emotional regulation strategies, social and communication skills, problem-solving and peer support, among others; all of them have been related with resilience and described in the literature ( Dray et al, 2017 ; Gartland et al, 2019 ; Pinto et al, 2021 ; Llistosella et al, 2022 ); (3) it is dealing with adolescence, a period when several biological and psychological factors can affect and modify the normal development of the individual ( Azpiazu Izaguirre et al, 2021 ). It is also a period to lay the foundation for well-being and foster positive development, including resilience ( Morrish et al, 2018 ).…”

Developing resilience and harnessing emotional intelligence

“…Pinto et al . [ 24 ] in a systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on resilience programs in children and adolescents reported a moderate effect of the programs in promoting resilience among adolescent students (standard mean differences [SMD] = 0.48), and some of these effects were sustained during the 6-month follow-up period (SMD = 0.12, P = 0.02).…”