Effects of nonpharmacological interventions on depressive symptoms and depression among nursing students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether nonpharmacological interventions, including mindfulness, could effectively improve depressive symptoms and depression in nursing students.
Results Summary
The meta-analysis found that mindfulness interventions and stress management programs were common and effective, showing moderate improvements in depressive symptoms compared to control groups. Short-term interventions were particularly beneficial, and Asian nursing students showed significant improvements.
Population
Nursing students
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nonpharmacological interventions | decrease | depressive symptoms and depression | nursing students | - | significantly moderate improvements | #1 |
mindfulness interventions | decrease | depression | nursing students | - | effective | #2 |
stress management programs | decrease | depression | nursing students | - | effective | #3 |
short-term interventions | decrease | depression | nursing students | - | beneficial | #4 |
nonpharmacological interventions | decrease | depression | Asian nursing students | - | great improvements | #5 |
OBJECTIVES: We aim to examine whether nonpharmacological interventions could effectively improve depressive symptoms and depression to provide more treatment options for nursing students. METHODS: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and three Chinese electronic databases were comprehensively searched for papers that were published from January 1990 through March 2018. Quality assessment, sensitivity analysis and heterogeneity were performed. RESULTS: In our review, 13 controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis indicated that the depressive symptoms and depression of nursing students in the intervention groups showed significantly moderate improvements compared with the control groups. Three subgroup analyses showed that mindfulness interventions and stress management programs were common and effective, short-term interventions were beneficial to depression, nonpharmacological interventions had great improvements for Asian nursing students and more rigorous researches on methodological quality are recommended. CONCLUSION: Nonpharmacological interventions can serve as promising complementary and alternative approaches in reducing the depressive symptoms and depression of nursing students.