A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomised-Controlled Wellbeing-Focused Interventions

This network meta-analysis (NMA) synthesises 183 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with 22,811 participants, providing a novel, comprehensive comparison of wellbeing interventions. Findings indicate that interventions integrating psychological techniques with physical activity, including ‘movement combined with psychological intervention’ and yoga, rank highest. Mindfulness, compassion-focused therapies, and ACT also demonstrated strong effects, highlighting shared characteristics of presence, acceptance, and self-compassion as beneficial. Physical activity performed comparably to single positive psychology interventions, underscoring multiple pathways to wellbeing. All interventions were significantly more effective than no treatment control groups, except for nature-based interventions which did not significantly outperform controls. However, nature-based interventions were characterised by small samples and a moderate-to-high risk of bias. Multiple sub-group and sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these conclusions. To advance the field, future research needs to explore multi-component approaches that transcend disciplinary silos, embrace interconnected determinants, and ultimately foster sustainable, holistic wellbeing.