SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Rehabil. Sci.
Sec. Rehabilitation in Children and Youth
This article is part of the Research TopicMental health and wellbeing of childrenView all 12 articles
Taking Stock of Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
Liesa Weiler-Wichtl1
Jonathan Fries2*Maximilian Hopfgartner3Daniela Feyrer1Kerstin Krottendorfer3Birgit Heller3
Caroline Reitbrecht3
Ulrike Leiss3Robert Weinzettel1- 1KOKON - Rehabilitation for Young People, Rohrbach-Berg, Austria
- 2University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- 3Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Vienna, Austria
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Objective: Psychosocial rehabilitation for children and adolescents with physical illnesses remains underdeveloped and poorly defined. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to consolidate current research findings. Design: We searched Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and a guideline registry, with the last search conducted on August 30, 2023. Subjects/Patients: Children and adolescents with physical indications. Methods: Eligible studies reported time-limited rehabilitation programs conducted in dedicated facilities, excluding those focused on psychiatric conditions. Results: In all, 18 studies were eligible (N = 2,933). Meta-analysis (k = 4, i = 11, N = 418) revealed a moderate, statistically significant effect size (d = 0.48) for psychosocial rehabilitation in improving quality of life, mood, and anxiety. However, research in this field proved scattered and inconsistent, as few controlled trials were available, and there was little agreement regarding research designs, procedures, and outcome measures. Conclusion: Psychosocial rehabilitation shows promising effects, but stronger evidence is needed to validate its efficacy. The lack of standardized definitions and procedures hinders progress. Future research should focus on randomized controlled trials and larger samples to optimize rehabilitation practices and improve outcomes for young patients with somatic conditions, resulting in evidence-based guidelines.
Keywords: Meta-analysis, Psychosocial rehabilitation, Systematic review, Pediatrics, QOL (quality of life)
Received: 30 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Weiler-Wichtl, Fries, Hopfgartner, Feyrer, Krottendorfer, Heller, Reitbrecht, Leiss and Weinzettel. 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: Jonathan Fries, juppertan@gmail.com
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