Assessing the Feasibility of a Peer Education Project to Improve Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents in the UK

Abstract

Many mental health problems begin in adolescence and occur on a spectrum of severity: early recognition and intervention is important. This study is a quantitative feasibility study of the Mental Health Foundation’s Peer Education Project (PEP). Attrition, psychometric properties of questionnaires, indications of improvement on a range of outcomes, and sample size required for a powered trial of effectiveness were assessed. 203 students completed the survey both pre and post-intervention. It was found that existing previously-validated measures had good psychometric properties, with two new questionnaires demonstrating reasonable reliability (self-help confidence alpha = 0.78, mental health knowledge alpha = 0.59). There were indications of improvement in help-seeking intentions, the number of sources likely to seek help from, and mental health knowledge from pre- to post-intervention. A future trial of PEP with a sample of approximately 36 schools, researcher-led data collections, and help-seeking intentions or sources as a primary outcome appears to be feasible.

Mental Health Literacy among Students of Gujranwala Division of Punjab

“…Some considered psychiatrists but majority selected more than one options. Similar results were shown by other study that reported that seeking medical aid regarding mental health is totally fine and acceptable 14,15 . In present study, majority agreed with idea to seek help rather than fighting alone against mental illness as it worsens it.…”

Exploring mechanisms and contexts in a Peer Education Project to improve mental health literacy in schools in England: a qualitative realist evaluation

“…This could increase students’ ‘affiliation’ to the school, a key pillar of a health-promoting environment [ 34 , 35 ]. While in our quantitative analysis [ 22 ], the effects did not differ between the schools that selected non-Year 12s as peer educators, or non-Year 7s as peer learners, this moderating effect could be explored more robustly in a larger study.…”

“…A further limitation is that while we attempted to adhere to the realist approach in its entirety, our IPT did not include prespecified CMOcs [ 30 ], and therefore, our programme theory warrants testing in a larger-scale study. This would also aid with understanding the PEP’s impact on MHL outcomes that have only been evaluated quantitatively in small-scale, short-term studies [ 21 , 22 ] and are variables that are inherently hard to measure, with MHL being a multifaceted, contested construct [ 3 ].…”

“…An evaluation of the PEP in 2016–17 found that across six schools, peer learners’ and educators’ knowledge around mental health and confidence to discuss emotional issues improved, but generalisability was limited as the schools were mainly single sex (female only) in Southeast England [ 21 ]. In our 2020–22 evaluation across another six schools in the Southwest and North of England, we found similar improvements in mental health knowledge, help-seeking intentions and the number of sources students who were likely to seek help from, but no indication of changes in self-help, peer support or general mental well-being [ 22 ]. Exploring acceptability and potential mechanisms could help to explain why the programme improved certain aspects of MHL over others, which has not been done previously.…”

Impact of Mental Health Education with Digital Virtual Simulation Technology on the Health of College Students

“…Russell A E proposed a quantitative feasibility study of the Peer Education Program of the Mental Health Foundation, evaluating the psychological measurement characteristics of lost follow-up, questionnaires, a series of signs of improvement in outcomes, and the sample size required for effective and robust trials. The results showed that the existing previously validated measurements had good psychometric characteristics, and two new questionnaires showed reasonable reliability [12]. Asbury K conducted a longitudinal qualitative content analysis using data to investigate the stability and changes in the mental health of these adolescents and their parents/caregivers during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”