A systematic review and meta-analysis of the benefits of school-based, peer-led interventions for leaders

The aim of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to quantitatively synthesise the effects of school-based peer-led interventions on leaders' academic, psychosocial, behavioural, and physical outcomes. Eligible studies were those that: (i) evaluated a school-based peer-led intervention using an experimental or quasi-experimental study design, (ii) included an age-matched control or comparison group, and (iii) evaluated the impact of the intervention on one or more leader outcomes. Medline, Sportdiscus, Psychinfo, Embase, and Scopus online databases were searched on the 24th of October, 2022 which yielded 13,572 results, with 31 included in the narrative synthesis and 12 in the meta-analysis. We found large positive effects for leaders' attitudes toward bullying (d = 1.02), small-to-medium positive effects for leaders' literacy (d = 0.39), and small positive effects for leaders' self-esteem (d = 0.18). There were mixed findings for behavioural outcomes and null effects for physical outcomes. Notable limitations of this research are the inclusion of a relatively small number of studies, and high heterogeneity in those included. Our findings have the potential to inform educational practice, but also highlight the need for further research examining the mechanisms that might account for the observed effects. Our systematic review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021273129).

Automated summary

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to quantitatively synthesize the effects of school-based peer-led interventions on leaders' academic, psychosocial, behavioral, and physical outcomes. The results showed significant positive effects on leaders' attitudes toward bullying, moderate positive effects on leaders' literacy, and small positive effects on leaders' self-esteem. Mixed findings were observed for behavioral outcomes, while no effects were found for physical outcomes. The limitations of this research include a relatively small number of included studies and high heterogeneity among the included studies. The findings have the potential to inform educational practice and highlight the need for further research on the mechanisms underlying the observed effects.