Impact of a Web Program to Support the Mental Wellbeing of High School Students: A Quasi Experimental Feasibility Study.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Anttila M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6679030 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Impact of a Web Program to Support the Mental Wellbeing of High School Students: A Quasi Experimental Feasibility Study.
Anttila Minna M Sittichai Ruthaychonnee R Katajisto Jouko J Välimäki Maritta M
International journal of environmental research and public health 20190711 14
Little effort has been made to investigate the potential of web programs aimed to support the mental wellbeing of adolescents in school environments in middle-income countries. A quasi-experimental feasibility study was conducted in Thailand with adolescents (N = 180) in three conveniently sampled high schools and with teachers (N = 12) who acted as program tutors. The web program was used in small groups, independently, or it was not used at all. No statistically significant changes were found ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundMedical students are prone to mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, and their psychological burden is mainly related to their highly demanding studies. Interventions are needed to improve medical students' mental health literacy (MHL) and wellbeing. This study assessed the digital Transitions, a MHL program for medical students that covered blended life skills and mindfulness activities.MethodologyThis was a one group, quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study. The study population was 374 first-year students who started attending the medical faculty at the University of Turku, Finland, in 2018-2019. Transitions was provided as an elective course and 220 students chose to attend and 182 agreed to participate in our research. Transitions included two 60-minute lectures, four weeks apart, with online self-learning material in between. The content focused on life and academic skills, stress management, positive mental health, mental health problems and disorders. It included mindfulness audiotapes. Mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking questionnaires were used to measure MHL. The Perceived Stress Scale and General Health Questionnaire measured the students' stress and health, respectively. A single group design, with repeated measurements of analysis of variance, was used to analyze the differences in the mean outcome scores for the 158 students who completed all three stages: the pre-test (before the first lecture), the post-test (after the second lecture) and the two-month follow-up evaluation.ResultsThe students' mean scores for mental health knowledge improved (-1.6, 95% Cl -1.9 to -1.3, P<.001) and their emotional symptoms were alleviated immediately after the program (0.5, 95% Cl 0.0 to 1.1, P=.040). The changes were maintained at the two-month follow up (-1.7, 95% Cl -2.0 to -1.4, P<.001 and 1.0, 95% Cl 0.2 to 1.8, P=.019, respectively). The students' stress levels reduced (P=.022) and their attitudes towards help-seeking improved after the program (P<.001), but these changes were not maintained at the two-month follow up. The stigma of mental illness did not change during the study (P=.13).ConclusionsThe digital Transitions program was easily integrated into the university curriculum and it improved the students' mental health literacy and wellbeing. The program may respond to the increasing global need for universal digital services, especially during the lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Trial registrationThe trial was registered at the ISRCTN registry (26 May 2021), registration number 10.1186/ ISRCTN10565335 ).
| S-EPMC8571980 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objective:To evaluate the effect of a school-based tobacco program in preventing initiation of tobacco use among adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Methods:We used a quasi-experimental controlled design. Four intervention and four control schools were selected from the regional education registry. A baseline questionnaire was administered to all grade 7 students before implementing the tobacco prevention program, Dentists Fighting Nicotine Dependence (DFND). The intervention group (n =379) received the DFND program whereas the control group (n = 255) received the regular tobacco program administered by the Department of Education. The program was delivered by trained health educators over 5?weeks. Pre- and post-test surveys (immediate and 2-year post-intervention) were collected. Study outcomes were current tobacco use, tobacco knowledge, attitude towards not using tobacco, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) of tobacco use. Covariates included sex, parent education, academic performance, absenteeism, student allowance, and religiosity. Data were analyzed using a two-level hierarchical mixed models. Results:In the immediate post-test, 597 participants (intervention, n = 366; control, n = 231) were surveyed. There was no difference in tobacco use between intervention and control schools, however, the intervention group had significantly higher mean scores for knowledge (? = 1.27, SE = 0.27, P?<?.01) and attitude toward not using tobacco (? = 5.17, SE = 2.48, P?<?.05) after adjusting for covariates. At 2-year post-intervention, 463 participants (intervention, n = 289; control, n = 173) were surveyed. There were no differences in tobacco use, knowledge, attitude or PBC between intervention and control groups. Conclusions:Our program did not impact tobacco use. In the short-term, the program significantly improved knowledge and attitude towards not using tobacco. These effects decayed 2 years post-intervention without additional programming. Increasing the effectiveness of DFND may be achieved by expanding curriculum content and practice time throughout the school years and by targeting high-risk adolescents within the program.
| S-EPMC7556170 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIn Hong Kong, with an increasing number of children experiencing mental health issues, there is a need to not only develop innovative interventions but also develop comprehensive prevention interventions so as to reduce their anxiety symptoms and enhance their emotional management and interpersonal relationships.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration model of the cognitive-behavioral approach and positive psychology by using digital game-based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention to magnify the social and emotional health and well-being of the school children in Hong Kong aged 9 to 11 years.MethodsA quasi-experimental design method was used to evaluate this digital game and school-based intervention. The Adventures of DoReMiFa was piloted in 4 primary schools where students were allocated to either an intervention or a control group. The participants were assessed at pre- and postintervention with a 6-month follow-up measuring their mental health knowledge, levels of anxiety symptoms, positive and negative thinking, perspective-taking, and self-esteem.ResultsA total of 459 primary school students from 4 primary schools participated in the study. The response rate on the questionnaires answered on the Web was up to 85.1% (391/459). Compared with the control group, the intervention group was found to have significant association with improved mental health knowledge at the time immediately after the intervention (beta=.46; P=.01) and in the 6-month postintervention period (beta=.66; P<.001); for perspective-taking, the intervention group had exhibited a significant improvement 6 months after the completion of the universal program (beta=1.50; P=.03). The intervention, however, was found not to be effective in reducing the rates of anxiety symptoms and negative thinking among the participating students.ConclusionsThe Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration of a digital game-based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention, was shown to be effective in elevating the knowledge of mental health and promoting perspective-taking in the primary school students of Hong Kong. Although there was insufficient evidence to support a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and negative automatic thoughts, the overall results were still encouraging in that a preventive effect was found, indicating that the program has the potential to enhance the mental well-being of schoolchildren. It also suggests that knowledge enhancement may not necessarily lead to behavior change, and more focused effort may be needed to achieve the translation. The implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also discussed.
| S-EPMC6473212 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urban African-American youth, aged 15-19 years, have asthma fatality rates that are higher than in whites and younger children, yet few programs target this population. Traditionally, urban youth are believed to be difficult to engage in health-related programs, both in terms of connecting and convincing.Develop and evaluate a multimedia, web-based asthma management program to specifically target urban high school students. The program uses "tailoring," in conjunction with theory-based models, to alter behavior through individualized health messages based on the user's beliefs, attitudes, and personal barriers to change.High school students reporting asthma symptoms were randomized to receive the tailored program (treatment) or to access generic asthma websites (control). The program was made available on school computers.Functional status and medical care use were measured at study initiation and 12 months postbaseline, as were selected management behaviors. The intervention period was 180 days (calculated from baseline). A total of 314 students were randomized (98% African American, 49% Medicaid enrollees; mean age, 15.2 yr). At 12 months, treatment students reported fewer symptom-days, symptom-nights, school days missed, restricted-activity days, and hospitalizations for asthma when compared with control students; adjusted relative risk and 95% confidence intervals were as follows: 0.5 (0.4-0.8), p = 0.003; 0.4 (0.2-0.8), p = 0.009; 0.3 (0.1-0.7), p = 0.006; 0.5 (0.3-0.8), p = 0.02; and 0.2 (0.2-0.9), p = 0.01, respectively. Positive behaviors were more frequently noted among treatment students compared with control students. Cost estimates for program delivery were $6.66 per participating treatment group student.A web-based, tailored approach to changing negative asthma management behaviors is economical, feasible, and effective in improving asthma outcomes in a traditionally hard-to-reach population.
| S-EPMC1899296 | biostudies-literature
Project description:University study can be a life period of heightened psychological distress for many students. The development of new preventive and intervention programs to support well-being in university students is a fundamental challenge for mental health professionals. We designed an 8-week online mindfulness-based program (eMBP) combining a face-to-face approach, text, audio, video components, and support psychotherapy principles with a unique intensive reminder system using the Facebook Messenger and Slack applications in two separate runs (N = 692). We assessed the program's effect on mindful experiencing, perceived stress, emotion regulation strategies, self-compassion, negative affect, and quality of life. The results of the presented pilot study confirmed that eMBP is a feasible and effective tool in university students' mental health support. The students who completed the eMBP reported a reduction of perceived stress with a large effect size ( p η2 = 0.42) as well as a decrease of negative affect experience frequency and intensity ( p η2 = 0.31), an increase of being mindful in their life (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire subscales: p η2 = 0.21, 0.27, 0.25, 0.28, 0.28), and a higher rate of self-compassion ( p η2 = 0.28) with a medium effect size. A small effect size was found in the frequency of using a cognitive reappraisal strategy ( p η2 = 0.073). One new result is the observation of an eMBP effect ( p η2 = 0.27) on the decrease in attributed importance to the quality-of-life components replicated in two consecutive runs of the program. The study affirms that mindfulness-based interventions can be effectively delivered in an eHealth form to university students.
| S-EPMC7829670 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThere is a good deal of evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy is effective for children and adolescents with anxiety-related problems. In Japan, an anxiety prevention programme based on cognitive behavioural therapy called 'Journey of the Brave' has been developed, and it has been demonstrated to be effective for elementary school students (aged 10-11 years). The purpose of this study was to have classroom teachers deliver the programme to junior high school students (aged 12-13 years) and to test the feasibility and efficacy of the programme in this setting.MethodsThis study was a prospective observational study and was approved by the Chiba University Review Board. An intervention group consisting of six classes of students in their first year of junior high school at two different schools (n = 149; 81 boys, 68 girls) received seven 50-min programme sessions. Participants in the control group were recruited from four classes of students in their second year of junior high school at one school (n = 89; 51 boys, 38 girls). All participants completed the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale at pre-test, post-test, and 2-3 month follow-up. Statistical analysis was conducted using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures model.ResultsMean total anxiety scores indicated a non-significant decrease at the 2-3 month follow-up for the intervention group compared to the control group. The group differences on the SCAS from baseline to post-test was - .71 (95% CI - 2.48 to 1.06, p = .43), and the 2-3 month follow-up was - .49 (95% CI - 2.60 to 1.61, p = .64).ConclusionsIn this pilot study, implementation of the programme confirmed the partial feasibility of the programme but did not elicit a significant reduction in anxiety scores. In addition, there are several methodological limitations to this study. In the future, we propose to test the feasibility and efficacy of the programme with the required sample size and by comparing groups with equal characteristics as well as by carrying out additional follow-up assessments.Trial registration UMIN000032517.
| S-EPMC6824127 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundResilience is a person's mental ability to deal with challenging situations adaptively and is a crucial stress management skill. Psychological resilience and finding ways to cope in crises is a highly relevant topic considering the COVID-19 pandemic, which enforced quarantine, social distancing measures, and school closures worldwide. Parents and children are currently living with increased stress due to COVID-19. We need to respond with immediate ways to strengthen children's resilience. Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy interventions for children's stress management overcome accessibility issues such as the inability to visit mental health experts owing to COVID-19 movement restrictions. An interactive learning environment was created, based on the preventive program "Friends," to overcome accessibility issues associated with delivering cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions in formal and informal education settings.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a web-based learning environment on resilience in (1) reducing anxiety symptoms and (2) increasing emotion recognition and recognition of stress management techniques among 9-10-year-old children. We also aimed to evaluate the learning environment's usability.MethodsA quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used. In total, 20 fourth graders in the experimental group interacted with the learning environment over 6 weekly 80-minute sessions. Further, 21 fourth graders constituted the control group. The main data sources were (1) a psychometric tool to measure children's anxiety symptoms, namely the Greek translation of the original Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, (2) 3 open-ended questions assessing emotion recognition and recognition of stress management techniques, and (3) the System Usability Scale to measure the usability of the learning environment.ResultsIn both groups, there was a small but nonsignificant postintervention reduction in reported anxiety symptoms, except for obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in the experimental group. A paired samples t test revealed that students' reported symptom scores of obsessive-compulsive disorder significantly decreased from 1.06 (SD 0.68) to 0.76 (SD 0.61) (t19= 5.16; P=.01). The experimental group revealed a significant increase in emotion recognition (t19=-6.99; P<.001), identification of somatic symptoms of stress (t19=-7.31; P<.001), and identification of stress management techniques (t19=-6.85; P<.001). The learning environment received a satisfactory usability score. The raw average system usability score was 76.75 (SD 8.28), which is in the 80th percentile rank and corresponds to grade B.ConclusionsThis study shows that interactive learning environments might deliver resilience interventions in an accessible and cost-effective manner in formal education, potentially even in distance-learning conditions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Interactive learning environments on resilience are also valuable tools for parents who can use them with their children at home, for informal learning, using mobile devices. As such, they could be a promising first-step, low-intensity intervention that children and the youth can easily access.
| S-EPMC8191731 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Our study is the first-ever initiative to merge administrative databases in Massachusetts to evaluate an important public mental health program. It examines post-incarceration outcomes of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) enrolled in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Forensic Transition Team (FTT) program. The program began in 1998 with the goal of transitioning offenders with SMI released from state and local correctional facilities utilizing a core set of transition activities. In this study we evaluate the program's effectiveness using merged administrative data from various state agencies for the years 2007-2011, comparing FTT clients to released prisoners who, despite having serious mental health disorders, did not meet the criterion for DMH services. By systematically describing our original study design and the barriers we encountered, this report will inform future efforts to evaluate public programs using merged administrative databases and electronic health records.
| S-EPMC3371126 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesMaker education is a dominant force in education reform and is viewed as a revolutionary way to learn. As innovative pedagogy is continuously explored in the field of nursing, the emerging role of maker education must be examined. This research aims to build a nursing bachelor education program based on maker education and to evaluate the effectiveness of this program.MethodsForty volunteer junior students majoring in nursing from a college were the subjects for this quasi-experiment. The training program for nursing students based on maker education was developed and implemented as an additional class for a period of 12 weeks. Before and after the experiment, two measures including the "Williams Creative Scale" and "Current Status Questionnaire of Nursing Students' Learning" were adopted for investigation, and corresponding statistical methods were used for analysis. The degree of satisfaction with this training program was investigated after the experiment.ResultsThe average scores of creativity, learning interest, cooperative learning skill, scientific research ability, and information attainment of the nursing students after the implementation of maker education all improved. The differences in the above points before and after the experiment were all statistically significant (P < 0.05). Most of the students expressed satisfaction with this training program (72.5% were very satisfied, 15.0% were partially satisfied, and 12.5% were not satisfied).ConclusionImplementing the training program based on maker education enhanced student creativity, learning interest, cooperative learning skill, scientific research ability, and information attainment. Comprehensive nursing talents were also cultivated. Our data suggested the importance of improving this program, adopting the method, and pursuing research in nursing education.
| S-EPMC6608676 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objective: To explore the effect of real-world fear on risky decision-making under certainty and uncertainty. Methods: This quasi-experimental study enrolled non-psychology undergraduate volunteers aged between 17 and 20 years old from the Preventive Medical Institute medical school in Xi'an. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, and each group received a two-stage crossover design intervention (of a calm and fearful situation) and completed the tasks of risky decision-making under uncertainty (the balloon analog risk task: BART) and certainty (the Cambridge gambling task: CGT), respectively. The primary outcomes included the behavioral impulsivity measured by the BART value, and the speed of decision-making, the quality of decisions, the adventure index, behavioral impulsivity, and risk adjustment measured by CGT. The secondary outcome was the concentration of cortisol in the saliva. Results: A total of 60 questionnaires and data were obtained from 60 participants (28 males and 32 females, aged 19.55 ± 0.75). Compared with the calm situation, participants were more likely to have a lower BART value (p = 0.013), slower speed of decision-making (p < 0.05), and higher adventure index (p = 0.018) in the fearful situation. The quality of decisions (p = 0.189), behavioral impulsivity index (p = 0.182), and risk adjustment (p = 0.063) between subjects in the fearful and calm situations were comparable. Furthermore, the mean value of the adventure index of CGT in male subjects was significantly higher than that in female subjects (p < 0.05), and the cortisol concentration in saliva during the fearful situation was significantly higher compared to the calm situation (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Fear might reduce behavioral impulsivity under uncertainty, and increase the adventure index under certainty in risky decision-making. Risky behavior might be influenced by gender: under certainty in risky decision-making, men were more adventurous. Additionally, fear increased the secretion of cortisol in saliva.
| S-EPMC10017853 | biostudies-literature