Brief School-Based Interventions Targeting Student Mental Health or Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Brief, school-based mental health interventions hold promise for reducing barriers to mental health support access, a critical endeavor in light of increasing rates of mental health concerns among youth. However, there is no consensus on whether or not brief school-based interventions are effective at reducing mental health concerns or improving well-being. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to provide consensus and determine directions for future work. Articles were included if they examined a brief (≤ four sessions or 240 min of intervention time) psychosocial intervention, were conducted within a Pre-K through 12th-grade school setting, included at least one treatment outcome evaluating mental health or well-being, and were published since 2000. A total of 6,702 papers were identified through database searching, of which 81 papers (k studies = 75) were ultimately selected for inclusion. A total of 40,498 students were included across studies and a total of 75 unique interventions were examined. A total of 324 effect sizes were extracted. On average, interventions led to statistically significant improvements in mental health/well-being outcomes versus control conditions up to one-month (g = .18, p = .004), six-month (g = .15, p = .006), and one-year (g = .10, p = .03) post-intervention. There may be benefits to brief school-based interventions from a preventative public health standpoint; future research may focus on how to optimize their real-world utility. Prospero pre-registration: CRD42021255079.

Comparison of Tibial Geometry, Density, and Strength in College-Aged Female Eumenorrheic Dancers, Gymnasts, and Runners: A Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography Study.

INTRODUCTION: Weightbearing activities such as gymnastics, soccer, weightlifting, and running have often been used as benchmarks in skeletal research since they have been shown to promote densitometric and geometric benefits. In comparison with other sports, there is a paucity of information in relation to dance and its osteogenic potential. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare tibial geometry, density, and strength in college-aged dancers versus gymnasts and runners.
Methods: A total of 60 trained eumenorrheic collegiate-aged female dancers (n = 11), gymnasts (n = 11), runners (n = 19), and sedentary controls (n = 19) were included in the study. Bone measure- ments, including total area (ToA), volumetric (total vBMD) and cortical density (CoD), compressive bone strength (BSI), and polar strength stress index (SSIp) of the dominant limb, were assessed using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) at the distal and proximal tibia (4% and 66% of limb length).
Results: No significant differences in ToA, CoD, CoA, and total vBMD were found between dancers and the comparison athletes at the measured sites. In addition, strength indices (BSI and SSIp) at the distal and proximal sites were similar between the dancing and both athlete groups.
Conclusion: Results suggest dance elicits similar structural adaptations at the tibia compared to benchmark high-impact and repetitive impact sports; thus, indicating dance, in its various forms, can have a positive effect on important bone variables that influence density and strength. These adaptations may potentially delay or prevent bone fragility later in life. Future studies should compare individual styles of dance separately, longitudinally, and include other important lower (e.g., hip) and upper body (e.g., radius) sites to further identify which forms provide the greatest osteogenic benefits.

Bone volumetric density, geometry, and strength in female and male collegiate runners.

PURPOSE: To explore differences in tibial bone geometry, volumetric density, and estimates of bone strength in runners and healthy controls. METHODS: Male (n = 21) and female (n = 38) runners (49.1 +/- 13.2 miles x wk(-1)) and inactive healthy controls (17 males and 32 females; mean age = 22 +/- 3.3 yr) were recruited to participate. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography was used to assess total volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD, mg x mm(-3)), total bone area (ToA, mm2), and an estimate of compressive bone strength (bone strength index (BSI) = ToA x total bone volumetric density (ToD2)) at the distal (4%) site of the tibia. ToA (mm2) and cortical bone area (CoA, mm2), cortical vBMD (CoD, mg x mm(-3)), cortical thickness (CoTh, mm), and an estimate of bone bending strength (polar strength strain index (SSIp), mm3) were measured at 50% and 66% sites. RESULTS: ToA and BSI were significantly greater (+11%-19%, P < 0.05) in female runners than controls at the 4% site. At the proximal sites, female runners had significantly greater ToA, CoA, CoTh, and SSIp (+9%-19%, all P < 0.001) compared with female controls. vBMD was similar at all tibia sites. Compared with controls, male runners had significantly greater CoTh at the 50% and 66% sites (+8% and 14%, respectively, P < 0.05) as well as greater CoA (+11%, P < 0.009) at the 66% site. There were no differences in bone strength or density at any site in the male runners. CONCLUSIONS: Greater bone strength in female runners was attributable to greater bone area rather than density. Although male runners did not show greater bone strength, they did exhibit favorable bone geometric properties. These data further document that running has osteogenic potential.

Bone geometry, strength, and muscle size in runners with a history of stress fracture.

PURPOSE: Our primary aim was to explore differences in estimates of tibial bone strength, in female runners with and without a history of stress fractures. Our secondary aim was to explore differences in bone geometry, volumetric density, and muscle size that may explain bone strength outcomes. METHODS: A total of 39 competitive distance runners aged 18-35 yr, with (SFX, n = 19) or without (NSFX, n = 20) a history of stress fracture were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (XCT 3000; Orthometrix, White Plains, NY) was used to assess volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD, mg x mm(-3)), bone area (ToA, mm(2)), and estimated compressive bone strength (bone strength index (BSI) = ToA x total volumetric density (ToD(2))) at the distal tibia (4%). Total (ToA, mm(2)) and cortical (CoA, mm(2)) bone area, cortical vBMD, and estimated bending strength (strength-strain index (SSIp), mm(3)) were measured at the 15%, 25%, 33%, 45%, 50%, and 66% sites. Muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA) was measured at the 50% and 66% sites. RESULTS: Participants in the SFX group had significantly smaller (7%-8%) CoA at the 45%, 50%, and 66% sites (P