Criteria for Selecting Resources for Bibliotherapy Interventions: A Systematized Review

Introduction

Bibliotherapy involves the use of books as a therapeutic tool and serves as a complementary method alongside medicine treatment and clinical psychiatry. It helps individuals cope with emotional or mental health challenges, offering support in resolving personal issues through structured and guided reading [1]. Numerous studies have explored the application and effectiveness of bibliotherapy in treating patients across various age groups and populations. Findings indicate that bibliotherapy significantly enhances self-management skills in elder adults, improves quality of life, and promotes greater social engagement [2]. Furthermore, bibliotherapy positively influences children's problem-solving abilities and social skills [3]. Books serve as powerful tools for reshaping values and attitudes. Additionally, bibliotherapy can enhance students' self-esteem [4]. Due to its comprehensive nature, this method has also demonstrated effectiveness in treating a wide range of psychological disorders [5-9].

A critical factor in effective bibliotherapy is the selection of appropriate resources. Research has identified various types of materials suitable for therapeutic interventions. Notable examples include Feeling Good [10,11] and Brenner's Psychology of Depression [12]. Some studies highlight storybooks as appropriate tools to alleviate psychological problems [13,14]. Other research underscores the significance of source characteristics, such as physical format, design, and thematic relevance, in maximizing treatment effectiveness [15-17].

Despite substantial efforts in the literature to propose criteria or resources for bibliotherapy, there is no still standardized, evidence-based criteria for the selection of appropriate materials for bibliotherapy interventions. Furthermore, our preliminary investigations revealed a lack of studies specifically examining the criteria for selecting suitable bibliotherapy resources. This study aims to address this gap by determining and categorizing criteria for selecting appropriate information resources for bibliotherapy interventions, through a comprehensive review of literature. The findings are intended to support bibliotherapists in implementing these interventions more effectively and purposefully.

Methods

This systematized review aimed to determine the appearance and content criteria, and the selection process for appropriate information sources in bibliotherapy.

Search strategy

Relevant keywords were identified using MeSH, Embase, and ERIC thesauri, systematic literature searches, and consultations with subject matter experts. The list of keywords included: bibliotherapy, bibliocounseling, book remedy, poetry therapy, poetry remedy, reading therapy, reading remedy, literary therapy, literary remedy, and therapeutic storytelling. The search strategy is available in supplement. Comprehensive searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, ProQuest, LISTA, Magiran, SID, Irandoc, Noormags, Sivilica, and Elmnet. Gray literature was searched through Google Scholar and theses databases such as Proquest and Irandoc.

Inclusion/Exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria were quantitative, qualitative, or mixed method designs aligned with the study objective, focused on content or appearance criteria, or the selection process for bibliotherapy resources, published until 30 December 2024, in English or Farsi. Exclusion criteria included studies with inaccessible full texts and those focused on information therapy or web therapy.

Study selection

Relevant studies were identified through database searches, gray literature review, and manual searching. Duplicates were removed using EndNote (v.X9). A two-stage screening process was then applied: first by titles/abstracts, then by full-text evaluation, both aligned with predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Studies not aligned with the research objectives or failing to meet inclusion criteria were excluded. This process was independently conducted by two researchers (R.N. and Z.F.), with disagreement resolved by a third reviewer (A.P.).

Data extraction

The information extracted from each study included: the first author, publication year, country, method, sample, type of resources selected for bibliotherapy, content or appearance criteria as well as the selection process, recorded using a data extraction form. Data extraction was independently performed by two researchers to ensure accuracy. Any discrepancies were resolved through consensus-based discussion.

Data synthesis

Extracted data related to content and appearance criteria and the selection process were thematically categorized and synthesized systematically. Results were presented in two formats: a narrative summary and structured tables.

Results

A search of databases, gray literature and manual searches identified 8,779 records. After removing duplicates, 3,437 records remained. The remaining records underwent a two-stage screening process. After screening titles and abstracts, 329 studies remained. During full text screening, 298 studies were excluded for not aligning with the research objectives or failing to meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria, while 31 studies were selected for final review and data extraction.

Based on the findings, the content-related selection criteria were categorized into four main criteria: content, language and literature, audience, and credibility. Table 1 outlines these criteria and their sub-criteria. Table 2 presents the appearance-based criteria for the resource selection. The main appearance criteria included titles, form elements, and appendices.

Table 1. Content criteria in choosing appropriate resources in bibliotherapy interventions

Table 2. Appearance criteria for choosing appropriate resources in bibliotherapy interventions

Table 3. The process of selecting resources for bibliotherapy intervention

Discussion

Content-related criteria for selecting resources for bibliotherapy interventions

Based on the findings, content criteria were categorized into four groups: "content", "language and literature", "audience", and "credibility". For content criteria, researchers emphasized that fiction used in bibliotherapy for children and adolescents should be realistic and avoid excessive fictional elements [14,26,46]. The problem addressed in the story and their solutions should be realistic and relatable [24]. It is crucial that bibliotherapy interventions for children are age-appropriate. In this regard, particular attention should be paid to their developmental age [14,19,21]. The content of books suitable for bibliotherapy and the problem addressed in these books should be related to the problem of the audience, which applied to both fiction and non-fiction texts, as highlighted in several studies [17,20,22,23,25,39,46].

The books selected for bibliotherapy should help cultivate a positive mental image in the audience. These books should promote self-confidence, a sense of self-worth, self-awareness, acceptance by oneself and others, reduced feeling of inferiority, and a positive, optimistic outlook on life [34]. Researchers have emphasized several elements that contribute to fostering a positive mental image in audiences: positive characters in children's story books [32], positive role models for teenagers [22], exercises that develop patients' optimism [33], having a positive message [36], and dealing with positive psychology. Furthermore, bibliotherapy texts, especially fiction, must employ logical narrative structures. Therefore, books used for bibliotherapy for issues such as divorce, death and prison should have an interesting and logical storyline [32]. The reading difficulty of books, especially for children and adolescents, should be considered. For example, the content of self-help fiction books selected for adolescent bibliotherapy should be appropriately matched to their reading ability [46].

The content of books selected for bibliotherapy should be evidence-based. Accordingly, self-help books used to treat anxiety and depression should be authored by qualified mental health professionals and grounded in scientific evidences [27]. Juvenile fiction books used for bibliotherapy interventions should also include information about mental illness and its treatment. Such books should offer coping skills and educational content related to mental illness [22]. The "language and literature" criterion emphasizes simplicity of content and its age-appropriateness [17,36]. Most studies consider fiction suitable for bibliotherapy interventions [14,22,25,26,30,32,34]. Characterization is one of the important criteria when selecting appropriate books for bibliotherapy, especially in fiction. These characters should be culturally diverse, believable, realistic, and have elements of humor [38,40,47].

Audience-related criteria include "cultural, indigenous, and racial factors" and "respect for the audience's beliefs and values" which have been mentioned in many studies [26,28,29,33,40,41]. Paying attention to "gender" is another important consideration in choosing appropriate bibliotherapy resources. Some researchers believe that gender sensitivity must be incorporated into the adaptation of bibliotherapy texts [33]. Under the "credibility" criterion, sub-criteria include: selection by experts, evaluation by specialized institutions, publisher and author credibility, peer and non-peer evaluations, best-selling status, and copyright date.

Appearance-related criteria for selecting resources for bibliotherapy interventions

Based on study's findings, the appearance criteria were categorized into three categories: "titles", "form elements", and "appendices". Visual appeal of the book includes illustrations [23,31,36,46], appropriate fonts [23,44], page layout [23], type of paper [23], number of pages [26,44], and electronic availability [31,33], all of which are cited in various sources. Coleman and Ganong [46] identified the presence of a reference list as one of the criteria for attractiveness of suitable bibliotherapy resources. Holmes [36] also recommends including a study guide written by a subject matter expert for self-help books.

The resource selection process for bibliotherapy interventions

Findings from this study identified three key components in the resource selection process: "selection stages", "people involved in the selection", and "selection tools". The selection process should begin with preparing an initial list of resources, followed by peer and non-peer evaluations, and culminating in the final selection of resources for bibliotherapy interventions [20,25]. Some studies refer to psychologists, therapists, content analysis specialists, librarians, nurses, and authors as the people should be involved in selection of resources [34,38,44,45]. Finally, selection tools include thematic bibliographies, selected book lists, library catalogs, databases, textbook references, bookstore websites, rated lists, and online bookstores [14,20,23].

Limitations

Among the limitations of this study was the review of studies in English and Persian, which could increase selection bias if Persian-language studies were included. Another limitation of the study was that it only reviewed completed studies and did not include ongoing studies or protocols.

Conclusion

Resource selection is a critical component for effective bibliotherapy. To maximize therapeutic outcomes, bibliotherapy interventions require materials that meet rigorously defined content and appearance criteria, as outlined in this study. The appearance and content criteria as well as the resource selection process identified in this study can help librarians, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists in effectively selecting and evaluating resources for bibliotherapy.

Declarations

Ethical considerations

This research was conducted with the code of ethics IR.MUI.NUREMA.REC.1401.051 obtained from the ethics committee in biomedical research of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

Funding

This research was carried out with the financial support of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, with number 3401229. The funder had no role in data collection, data analysis and article writing.

Conflicts of interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Authors' contribution

M.R: Conceptualization, data curation, data analysis, writing- original drafting, writing-review and editing, final approval; Z.F: Conceptualization, study design, methodology, writing-review and editing, final approval; A.P: Conceptualization, study design, writing-review and editing, final approval. MR.H: methodology, data curation, writing-review and editing, final approval; R.N: project administration, supervision, conceptualization, study design, data curation, data analysis, writing- original drafting, writing-review and editing, final approval. All authors have read and approved the text of the article.

Consent for publication

None

Data availability

Data access is possible through the corresponding author.

AI declaration

DeepSeek (developed by DeepSeek Technology Co., Ltd.) was used to edit the English sections of the manuscript. All AI-assisted edits were reviewed and approved by the authors for accuracy and appropriateness.

Acknowledgements

This article is the result of a part of the thesis entitled "Criteria for resource selection for bibliotherapy interventions: A scoping review" in the master's degree in medical librarianship and information science, approved by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2023 with code 3401229.