Psychoeducational Intervention to Promote Adolescents' Mental Health Literacy in a School Context
Condition: Health Literacy
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Mental Health Literacy was defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders that aid
      in its recognition, management or prevention. Portugal is the European country with the
      highest prevalence of mental illness in the population (22.9%) and anxiety disorders are the
      most common (16.5%). Approximately 20% of children and adolescents suffer from some mental
      disorder and about 8% of adolescents aged 13 to 18 years have some anxiety disorders.
      Portugal School Health Program 2015 evidences the promotion of health literacy and anxiety as
      areas of intervention in adolescence. The investigators intend to know the feasibility of a
      psychoeducational intervention to promote adolescents' mental health literacy (MHL) about
      anxiety in a school context.
    

Detailed description: 
      Mental Health Literacy (MHL) was defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders that
      aid in its recognition, management or prevention and include several components: recognition
      of disorders to facilitate help-seeking; knowledge of professional help and treatments
      available; knowledge of effective self-help strategies; knowledge and skills to give first
      aid and support to others, and knowledge of how to prevent mental disorders. MHL is not
      simply knowledge of mental health problems, it is knowledge linked to action which can
      benefit one's own mental health or that of others. Portugal is the European country with the
      highest prevalence of mental illness in the population (22.9%) and anxiety disorders are the
      most common (16.5%). Approximately 20% of children and adolescents suffer from some mental
      disorder and about 8% of adolescents aged 13 to 18 years have some anxiety disorders. In a
      Portugal recent study, anxiety predominated in 66.3% (930) adolescents between the ages of 13
      and 17 who used the urgency of a pediatric hospital from 2011 to 2014. Portugal School Health
      Program (2015) evidences the promotion of health literacy and anxiety as areas of
      intervention in adolescence.

      The objectives of this study are: identify adolescents' MHL about anxiety in school setting;
      design an psychoeducational intervention to promote adolescents' MHL about anxiety in school
      setting; validate the content of that intervention and evaluate its feasibility.

      Research Method(s): Medical Research Council's (MRC) framework and CReDECI Checklist were
      applied on the development and evaluation of complex interventions using quantitative,
      qualitative and mixed methods. Ethical considerations have taken place.

      Implementation Strategies for Findings: Development of psychoeducational intervention to
      promote adolescents' MHL about anxiety in school setting supported by Health Promotion Model
      of Pender; Conceptual Model of Health Literacy and Integrative Model of Behavioral
      Prediction. Systematic reviews about adolescents' MHL and about MHL interventions showed
      reduced mental health literacy of adolescents and suggest some methods and pedagogical
      techniques. We designed a mental health literacy psychoeducational intervention about anxiety
      on adolescents in a school context called "ProLiSMentAl" using different methods and
      pedagogical techniques, consist of 4 sessions of 90 minutes: 1) Improvement social anxiety
      recognition; 2) prevention strategies; 3) self-help strategies; 4) knowledge of first aid
      strategies and 5) knowledge of professionals and treatments available. Contextual factors and
      determinants of the setting in the modelling of the intervention were given by a focus group
      with 6 health and education experts and a focus group with 6 adolescents and an e-delphi with
      25 experts. After nurses' training and preparation meetings, mixed studies were carried out
      to model the final intervention and determine feasibility, acceptability and practicability
      of this complex intervention: 1) feasibility study: pre-experimental, before and after,
      without control group with 11 adolescents; 2) adolescents', health and education
      professionals' evaluation; 3) pilot study: quasi-experimental, before, after and 1month
      follow-up (n=21) with an equivalent control group (n=17).
    

Intervention name(s): Intervention ProLiSMentAl
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Using different methods and pedagogical techniques, mental health literacy psychoeducational intervention called "ProLiSMentAl" consist of 4 sessions of 90 minutes: 1) improvement social anxiety recognition; 2) prevention strategies; 3) self-help strategies; 4) knowledge of first aid strategies and 5) knowledge of professionals and treatments available.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants are assigned in two groups, an experimental group who will receive the psychoeducational intervention "ProLiSMentAl" and a control group who have usual intervention
Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Mental Health; Health Literacy; Adolescent; Schools