TY - JOUR
T1 - School-based intervention study examining approaches for well-being and mental health literacy of pupils in Year 9 in England
T2 - Study Protocol for a Multischool, Parallel Group, Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial (AWARE)
AU - Hayes, Daniel
AU - Moore, Anna
AU - Stapley, Emily
AU - Humphrey, Neil
AU - Mansfield, Rosie
AU - Santos, Joao
AU - Ashworth, Emma
AU - Patalay, Praveetha
AU - Bonin, Eva-Maria
AU - Boehnke, Jan Rasmus
AU - Deighton, Jessica
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2019/9/3
Y1 - 2019/9/3
N2 - Introduction: The prevalence of emotional difficulties in young people is increasing. This upward trend is largely accounted for by escalating symptoms of anxiety and depression. As part of a public health response, there is increasing emphasis on universal prevention programmes delivered in school settings. This protocol describes a three-arm, parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial, investigating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two interventions, alongside a process and implementation evaluation, to improve mental health and well-being of Year 9 pupils in English secondary schools.Method: A three-arm, parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial comparing two different interventions, the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) or the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide), to Usual Provision. Overall, 144 secondary schools in England will be recruited, involving 8600 Year 9 pupils. The primary outcome for YAM is depressive symptoms, and for The Guide it is intended help-seeking. These will be measured at baseline, 3-6 months and 9-12 months after the intervention commenced. Secondary outcomes measured concurrently include changes to: positive well-being, behavioural difficulties, support from school staff, stigma-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours, and mental health first aid. An economic evaluation will assess the cost-effectiveness of the interventions, and a process and implementation evaluation (including a qualitative research component) will explore several aspects of implementation (fidelity, quality, dosage, reach, participant responsiveness, adaptations), social validity (acceptability, feasibility, utility), and their moderating effects on the outcomes of interest, and perceived impact.Ethics and Dissemination: This trial has been approved by the University College London Research Ethics Committee. Findings will be published in a report to the Department for Education, in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN17631228.Protocol: V1 3 January 2019. Substantial changes to the protocol will be communicated to the trials manager to relevant parties (eg, ISRCTN).
AB - Introduction: The prevalence of emotional difficulties in young people is increasing. This upward trend is largely accounted for by escalating symptoms of anxiety and depression. As part of a public health response, there is increasing emphasis on universal prevention programmes delivered in school settings. This protocol describes a three-arm, parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial, investigating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two interventions, alongside a process and implementation evaluation, to improve mental health and well-being of Year 9 pupils in English secondary schools.Method: A three-arm, parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial comparing two different interventions, the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) or the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide), to Usual Provision. Overall, 144 secondary schools in England will be recruited, involving 8600 Year 9 pupils. The primary outcome for YAM is depressive symptoms, and for The Guide it is intended help-seeking. These will be measured at baseline, 3-6 months and 9-12 months after the intervention commenced. Secondary outcomes measured concurrently include changes to: positive well-being, behavioural difficulties, support from school staff, stigma-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours, and mental health first aid. An economic evaluation will assess the cost-effectiveness of the interventions, and a process and implementation evaluation (including a qualitative research component) will explore several aspects of implementation (fidelity, quality, dosage, reach, participant responsiveness, adaptations), social validity (acceptability, feasibility, utility), and their moderating effects on the outcomes of interest, and perceived impact.Ethics and Dissemination: This trial has been approved by the University College London Research Ethics Committee. Findings will be published in a report to the Department for Education, in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN17631228.Protocol: V1 3 January 2019. Substantial changes to the protocol will be communicated to the trials manager to relevant parties (eg, ISRCTN).
KW - adolescent
KW - cluster randomised controlled trial
KW - mental health
KW - teacher
KW - well-being
KW - young person
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071779534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029044
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029044
M3 - Article
C2 - 31481370
VL - 9
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
IS - 8
M1 - e029044
ER -