Effectiveness of internet-delivered psychological treatments for children and adolescents with anxiety and/or depressive disorders: Systematic review and network meta-analysis

Abstract

Background

Anxiety and depression symptomatology has increased in the child and adolescent population. Internet-delivered psychological treatments (IDPT) can help to reduce this symptomatology, attending to the largest possible population.

Aim

To conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis of IDPT to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms in children and adolescents.

Methods

The search for studies was conducted in SCOPUS, PsycINFO, PSICODOC, PsycARTICLES and Medline, between 2000 and 2022, in December 2022. Studies were selected if they were conducted with a sample of children and/or adolescents with previous symptoms of anxiety and depression, had applied IDPT, and included at least two comparative groups with pretest-posttest measures. Network meta-analyses were separately performed for anxiety and depression outcomes. Publication bias was analyzed using Egger's test and funnel plots, and mixed-effects meta-regression models were applied to account for heterogeneity.

Results

37 studies were included in the meta-analysis, providing a total of 74 comparative groups. IDPT exhibited low-to-moderate, statistically significant average effect sizes when compared to both inactive and active controls. No statistical significance was found when IDPT was compared with other types of interventions.

Discussion

IDPT is recommended to reduce anxiety and depression symptomatology in children and adolescents, but more studies are needed which compare treatments with other types of interventions, such as face-to-face therapy.