Limited evidence and limited effects of intergenerational activities impact on the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people
The review in brief
Only five studies have evaluated the impact of intergenerational interventions on the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people, despite these types of interventions intending to have benefits for both younger participants, as well as older age participants. There is insufficient and inconclusive evidence to demonstrate that these interventions benefit children and young people. Evaluations need to improve the measurement of the impact of intergenerational interventions on children and young people.
What is this review about?
The number of older people experiencing isolation and loneliness has increased in many societies. Loneliness can lead to poor mental and physical health. Children and young people are experiencing increasing levels of anxiety and poor mental health. Intergenerational interventions aim to bring both older and younger people in purposeful shared activities. Intergenerational in this context means a generation is skipped between the older and younger participants. These have potential to reduce the growth in loneliness and decline in wellbeing for both older and young people. The impact of these types of interventions, and what elements contribute to their effectiveness are important to understand to inform practice and policy decisions.
What is the aim of this review?
This systematic review aims to identify and summarise all of the existing research that has been designed to explore how intergenerational activities affect the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
What are the main findings of this review?
This review includes only five studies that evaluate the effects of intergenerational activities on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Three studies were undertaken in the USA and two in Europe. The duration of the interventions ranged from 1 day to 1 year. Their purposes also differed including; supporting learning, promoting positive behaviours and reducing harmful behaviours. They targeted different ages of children from younger children to teenagers. None of the studies evaluated the same outcomes so it was difficult to make comparisons between them. One study showed improvements in wellbeing measures, and this was an intervention delivered to children in deprived neighbourhoods, where the intervention duration was for a year allowing the development of a greater depth of relationship between the younger and older participants. Overall, evaluations of intergenerational interventions often fail to measure outcomes in children and young people, and there is not a consistent approach to measuring mental wellbeing outcomes that allows comparison or synthesis of the studies.
What do the findings of this review mean?
Although intergenerational interventions appear to have promise in improving mental wellbeing of children and younger people, existing evidence is very limited and is inconclusive. Future evaluations should seek to measure the impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people to inform decision making.
How up-to-date is this review?
State here when the review authors searched for the included studies: ‘The review authors’ searched for studies up to 2021.