Towards school-based mental health programs in Nigeria: the immediate impact of a depression-literacy program among school-going adolescents and their teachers

Abstract

Background Depression-literacy, which is the foundational requirement for symptom recognition, positive attitude and help-seeking, is poor among adolescents in Nigeria. This study, therefore, aims to determine the impact of a school-based training program on depression-literacy among a cohort of high-school students and their teachers in South-West Nigeria. Methods An adapted version of the Break Free from Depression, a 4-module depression awareness curriculum for staff and students, was implemented among students and their teachers. Paired-sample T-test was used to assess the domain-specific (knowledge, attitude, and confidence) impact of the training by comparing the baseline and immediate (within the week of the training) post-scores. Results A total of 3098 students and 294 teachers from 21 schools across three states in South-West Nigeria successfully completed the training. There was a significant positive difference (p < 0.05), at post-test, in the knowledge, attitude, and confidence among the students. The same was observed among teachers except for attitude where positive change did not reach significant level (p = 0.06). When statistically significant, the calculated effect size (eta squared) was highest for knowledge (students: 0.07, p = 0.001; teachers: 0.08, p < 0.000) and least for attitude (students: 0.003, p = 0.002 teachers: 0.085, p = 0.06). Multiple regression analyses result showed that the level of pre-scores predicted the magnitude of change in all domains of depression-literacy (p < 0.05) after controlling for age, gender, and type of school among the students, but not for teachers. Conclusions School-based depression-literacy programs can lead to significant positive change in knowledge, attitude, and confidence of students and teachers.

Community-based models of care for adolescent and adult depression, suicidal behavior, anxiety, trauma, and substance use in Africa: a scoping review

“…On the other hand, Robjant et al 's (2022) publication described a trauma therapy intervention for postconflict communities, where engagement was defined as uptake of trauma-specific treatment after referral. The other five publications examined help-seeking as an outcome (Odenwald et al, 2012;Wright and Chiwandira, 2016;Akena et al, 2021;Atilola et al, 2022;Logie et al, 2022), three of which focused on mental health literacy, the ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness, understand their causes, and identify sources of help. The other two publications focused on treatment seeking behavior, such as seeking consultations with care providers (Odenwald et al, 2012;Wright and Chiwandira, 2016).…”