SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1612755
Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to improve the mental health in men who have sex with men (MSM): A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 2Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3School of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 4Department of General Practice, HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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Abstract Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are vulnerable to mental health problems. Some psychosocial interventions showed different effects on various mental health aspects, but the exact pooled effect size was uncertain. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for mental health among MSM. Methods: We searched six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, EmBase, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials and ICTRP) from database inception to March 4, 2024. We included randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies of psychosocial interventions aimed at improving the mental health of MSM. The outcomes were the effect sizes of overall mental health and specific aspects (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, stress, coping, emotion, social function and identity). The fixed-effect or random-effect model was adopted to calculate the effect sizes. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024551392). Results: We included 14 studies conducted between 2010 and 2024. The effect size of intervention for overall mental health status was 0.14 (95%CI: 0.08-0.21, n=14, I2=28.23%). The interventions had positive effects in depressive symptoms (Hedges' g=0.25, 95%CI: 0.09-0.41), anxiety symptoms (Hedges' g=0.20, 95%CI: 0.12-0.29), substance abuse (Hedges' g=0.19, 95%CI: 0.10-0.28), stress (Hedges' g=0.18, 95%CI: 0.03-0.33), coping (Hedges' g=0.21, 95%CI: 0.06-0.36), emotion (Hedges' g=0.16, 95%CI: 0.06-0.25), and identity (Hedges' g=0.19, 95%CI: 0.07-0.30). There was no publication bias. Conclusions: Psychosocial interventions have a small-to-moderate effect on improving the mental health status of the MSM. Our study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the intervention effect, with estimations of overall mental health status and some specific aspects.
Keywords: Mental Health, Men who have sex with men, Psychosocial intervention, review, Meta-analysis
Received: 16 Apr 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wei, Cheng, Li, Choi and Wong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: William CW Wong, Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
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