Children affected by armed conflict, displacement, and other humanitarian crises face elevated risk of mental health and psychosocial difficulties, often with limited access to clinical care. Play-based psychosocial support (PSS) interventions—programs that use structured or facilitated play, creative arts, sport, movement, and expressive activities to promote mental health—are a common response because they can be delivered by non-specialist staff in non-clinical, resource-constrained settings where trained mental health professionals are scarce. This review synthesizes evidence from 31 studies on the effectiveness of these interventions, published between 2001 and 2025 (see Methodology and Scope in the brief for further detail on sources and inclusion criteria).

The evidence shows that play-based programs usually improve children's general well-being and social connection. Effects on clinical symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety are far less consistent. Harm is also documented in two forms. In some programs, participants did worse on average than children who did not receive the program. In others, the program looked successful on average, but that average masked harm to specific children within it, helping most children while leaving some worse off than before. The evidence on when and why harm occurs is thin, and this review treats that as a reason for caution.