Psychosocial interventions for children with dermatological conditions: systematic review and meta-analysis
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Adina, Japheth O
Morawska, Alina
Casey, Emily
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Chronic skin conditions contribute to psychosocial difficulties and reduced child/parent quality of life, impacting condition management and disease control. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the literature on psychosocial interventions (interventions that therapeutically target psychological/social processes to improve outcomes) for children with chronic dermatological conditions and their families. METHODS: Searches of five electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science) identified relevant articles published from dates of inception to April 8, 2024, and reference lists were searched for additional relevant articles. Primary outcomes were disease/symptom severity and child quality of life. Interventions could be delivered in any format via controlled or uncontrolled studies. Articles had to report pre-post-intervention data and be published in English. RESULTS: The review identified 10 eligible studies (reported in 12 papers) involving 2,346 families from seven countries. All reported on interventions for families of children with atopic dermatitis; none examined interventions for any other dermatological conditions. Eight studies evaluated face-to-face group-delivered interventions, and two studies evaluated self-directed online interventions. Meta-analyses revealed a significant effect on disease/symptom severity (standard mean difference = -0.34, 95% confidence interval = -0.53 to -0.15, z = 3.50, p < .001, I2 = 74%) but no significant effect on children's quality of life (standard mean difference = -0.09, 95% confidence interval = -0.26 to 0.09, z = 0.99, p = .32, I2 = 42%). Effects on secondary (parent and family) and other outcomes were mixed. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial interventions may help to improve disease/symptom severity and other important outcomes for families of children with atopic dermatitis. Future research should examine efficacy in other pediatric dermatological conditions.
Journal Title
Journal of Pediatric Psychology
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Item Access Status
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Mitchell, AE; Adina, JO; Morawska, A; Casey, E, Psychosocial interventions for children with dermatological conditions: systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2025, pp. jsaf066