The impact of storytelling on building resilience in children: A systematic review
Authors: Ramamurthy Chandra , Zuo Peixin , Armstrong Gregory , Andriessen Karl 
Published: December 2023

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

Storytelling is an effective tool for communication, is universally comprehensible and transcends linguistic barriers, adapting to cultures easily.

Storytelling has a strong influence on children and has been used for knowledge retention and for developing imagination, creativity and prosocial behaviours.

What this paper adds to existing knowledge?

The systematic review offers essential insights into the effects of storytelling interventions on the development of resilience in children.

It indicates the various forms of storytelling interventions implemented and also the specific measures of resilience employed in the studies.

The review has demonstrated that storytelling plays a crucial role in the development of protective factors in children including resilience.

What are the implications for practice?

Psychiatric and mental health nurses working in community, hospital or mental health units play an important role in mental health interventions, particularly when it comes to children and young adults.

Employing storytelling techniques can help psychiatric and mental health nurses provide timely and consistent support to children while helping them explore support systems, mechanisms and coping strategies helping build resilience.

This holds particular importance for low‐ and middle‐income countries where limited resources pose challenges in providing adequate support for mental health programmes for children. Methods such as storytelling are simple and adaptable to the specific challenges faced in the mental health setting.

Introduction

Resilience is a crucial aspect of mental health and coping that enables individuals to effectively recover from challenges. Fostering resilience in children becomes a significant objective. Storytelling is known to positively affect resilience, providing opportunities to share and develop narratives that help make sense of difficult experiences, find meaning in them, and building beliefs around our capacity to adapt well to challenging experiences.

Aim

The aim of this review is to synthesize peer‐reviewed studies on the impact of storytelling interventions in developing resilience in children.

Method

The review adhered to the updated PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022365474). We conducted searches in 12 databases with search strings comprising of concepts regarding storytelling, resilience and children.

Results

The review included 11 studies published between 2012 and 2022. The narrative synthesis of the studies indicates that storytelling interventions enhanced psychological resilience in children.

Discussion

Storytelling‐based interventions in school settings with participatory approaches using cultural stories, and positive psychology‐based interventions were effective and feasible.

Implications for Practice

This review has scope for informing future interventions with children, especially those who live in marginalized communities in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs).