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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1470817

The Efficacy of Personalized Psychological Interventions in Adolescents: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

Provisionally accepted
William Li William Li 1*John Gleeson John Gleeson 1Madeleine I. Fraser Madeleine I. Fraser 1Joseph Ciarrochi Joseph Ciarrochi 1Stefan G. Hofmann Stefan G. Hofmann 2Steven C. Hayes Steven C. Hayes 3Baljinder K. Sahdra Baljinder K. Sahdra 1
  • 1 Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia
  • 2 Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Hesse, Germany
  • 3 University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This review compared the efficacy of personalized psychological interventions to standardized interventions for adolescents. We conducted a scoping review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared personalized interventions with standardized interventions in adolescents. Data was analyzed using Bayesian multilevel random effects meta-analysis. Eligible studies were identified through five databases: Scopus, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and EMBASE. Moderation analysis was conducted to explain potential sources of effect size heterogeneity. Eight studies across 13 articles (participant N = 2,490) met inclusion criteria for the review with seven studies across 10 articles (N = 1,347) providing sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. A small but significant effect size favoring personalized interventions was found (d = 0.21, 95%CrI [0.02, 0.39]), indicating that personalized interventions are associated with superior treatment outcomes compared to standardized interventions.Moderate between-study heterogeneity was found (I 2 = 53.3%). There was no evidence of publication bias. The review also found significant variation in methods of treatment personalization. This review provides evidence that personalization of adolescent psychological interventions is an effective way to improve treatment outcomes. Given the large number of adolescents worldwide who will experience some sort of mental health problem, personalization could have a significantly large impact on global mental health outcomes.

    Keywords: adolescent mental health, Personalized intervention, Psychotherapy, Meta-analysis, Scoping review

    Received: 26 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Gleeson, Fraser, Ciarrochi, Hofmann, Hayes and Sahdra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: William Li, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.