Supporting mental health in young people with language and literacy difficulties: A scoping review of preventative interventions and treatments

Language and literacy difficulties are associated with an elevated risk for mental health concerns among young people, yet the reliance on language-based skills to access ‘talking therapies’ (e.g., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) may reduce the accessibility of existing interventions for young people with language and literacy difficulties. We conducted a scoping review to map the available mental health prevention and treatment interventions for young people with language and literacy difficulties. We systematically searched the MEDLINE (Ovid), PsychInfo, CINAHL, Scopus, and ProQuest Central databases with limits set for years 2000–2024, identifying 30 papers that met inclusion criteria. Our examination of the existing literature reveals the need for (a) rigorous experimental trials of both prevention and treatment interventions, (b) exploration of the effectiveness of interventions across universal, selective, and indicated prevention levels, and (c) expanded efforts to include young people with oral language disorders in mental health intervention research.