Models of Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Theoretical Approaches

Background Mental health and mental illness have been contested concepts for decades, with a wide variety of models of mental health problems being proposed. To date, there has been no exhaustive review which provides an overview of existing models.Methods We conducted a systematic review of theoretical models of mental health problems. We searched academic databases, reference lists and an electronic bookshop for literature that proposed, endorsed, reviewed or critiqued such models. Papers, book chapters and books were included with material by researchers, clinicians, non-medical professions and service users writing between 2000 to June 2020 being considered. A quality appraisal could not be provided due to the theoretical content of publications. The study was registered with the Open Science Framework (No. osf.io/r3tjx). FindingsOn the basis of 110 publications we identified 34 different models which were grouped into five broader categories. Many models aimed to bridge two or more categories. Biological and psychological approaches had the largest number of models while social, consumer and cultural models were less diversified. InterpretationIn addition to established theories, we found a large number of new theoretical approaches, most stemming from academic fields. From an epistemological perspective, we could not find criteria that advance scientific models over non-scientific approaches, identifying the need for approaches by non-medical professionals and service users to be considered. Due to the non-empirical nature of the publications, several limitations in terms of search and quality appraisal apply.