Efficacy of Psycho‐Educational Interventions on School Bullying in Social Isolation, Loneliness and PTSD Among Schoolchildren: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis.

Introduction: Various antibullying strategies have emerged in the literature. To date, there is a dearth of the quality of evidence on the effectiveness of current antibullying programmes in reducing the sequelae of bullying. This critical appraisal examines the effectiveness of bullying in alleviating social isolation, loneliness and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among schoolchildren. Methods: This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) reporting guidelines. Several databases were searched, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the articles selected for inclusion. Results: Out of the 9537 articles initially identified and after assessing the eligibility of the studies, 22 articles were included in this systematic review, and 10 experimental studies were used for the meta‐analysis. There was a significant (p = 0.015) and small standardized mean difference (SMD) (SMD = −0.132, 95% CI = −0.026 to −0.238) of the effect of psycho‐educational programmes on social isolation among school children. Additionally, there was a significantly small SMD of the effect of psycho‐educational programmes on loneliness among school students (SMD = −0.215, p = 0.049, 95% CI = −0.001 to −0.429). There were not enough publications to perform a meta‐analysis of the effects of psycho‐educational programmes on PTSD symptoms in school children. Conclusions: Although psycho‐educational interventions exhibit promise in mitigating social isolation and loneliness, additional research is required to comprehend their efficacy and comprehensively determine the optimal implementation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]