TY - JOUR
T1 - The Youth Aware of Mental Health Intervention
T2 - Impact on Help Seeking, Mental Health Knowledge, and Stigma in U.S. Adolescents
AU - Lindow, Janet C.
AU - Hughes, Jennifer
AU - South, Charles
AU - Minhajuddin, Abu
AU - Gutierrez, Luis
AU - Bannister, Elizabeth
AU - Trivedi, Madhukar H.
AU - Byerly, Matthew J
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by Montana state legislative funding ( Montana Research & Economic Development Initiative [M.J.B., Principal Investigator (PI)], Montana State University research funds (M.J.B., PI), Montana INBRE ( NIGMS ; P20GM103474 ), the Rees-Jones Foundation (M.H.T., PI), and the UT Southwestern Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care. The funders of this research had no role in the study design, analysis, interpretation of results, or preparation of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - Purpose: Suicide is a leading cause of death among U.S. youth aged 12–18 years. Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), a promising, universal, school-based mental health promotion/suicide primary prevention intervention for adolescents, has been evaluated in Europe but not in the U.S. The present study used an uncontrolled, pretest/post-test design to document the potential for YAM to reduce suicidal ideation, attempt, and suicide. A demonstration that help seeking behaviors, mental health literacy, and mental health stigmatizing attitudes improve after the intervention would suggest that the program is promising in the U.S., as well as in Europe, and that further investigation is merited. Methods: YAM was delivered to 1,878 students in 11 schools as part of regular school curricula. A subset of these students (n = 436) completed surveys before and 3 months postdelivery. Surveys included five questions about help seeking behaviors, a measure of intent to seek help (General Help Seeking Questionnaire), two mental health literacy scales, and two mental illness stigma scales (Reported and Intended Behavior Scale and Personal Stigma and Social Distance Scale). Both McNemar's test and repeated measures linear models were used to determine whether the survey outcomes changed after YAM delivery. Results: Among the 436 adolescents (286 and 150 in Montana and Texas, respectively), significant increases were found pre- to post-intervention in three of five help seeking behaviors, along with improved mental health literacy and decreased mental health-related stigma. Intent to seek help was unchanged. Conclusions: Several help seeking behavioral factors, mental health knowledge, and stigma improved post-YAM intervention. All three domains are likely protective against suicide. A randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of YAM in preventing suicidal behaviors is warranted.
AB - Purpose: Suicide is a leading cause of death among U.S. youth aged 12–18 years. Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), a promising, universal, school-based mental health promotion/suicide primary prevention intervention for adolescents, has been evaluated in Europe but not in the U.S. The present study used an uncontrolled, pretest/post-test design to document the potential for YAM to reduce suicidal ideation, attempt, and suicide. A demonstration that help seeking behaviors, mental health literacy, and mental health stigmatizing attitudes improve after the intervention would suggest that the program is promising in the U.S., as well as in Europe, and that further investigation is merited. Methods: YAM was delivered to 1,878 students in 11 schools as part of regular school curricula. A subset of these students (n = 436) completed surveys before and 3 months postdelivery. Surveys included five questions about help seeking behaviors, a measure of intent to seek help (General Help Seeking Questionnaire), two mental health literacy scales, and two mental illness stigma scales (Reported and Intended Behavior Scale and Personal Stigma and Social Distance Scale). Both McNemar's test and repeated measures linear models were used to determine whether the survey outcomes changed after YAM delivery. Results: Among the 436 adolescents (286 and 150 in Montana and Texas, respectively), significant increases were found pre- to post-intervention in three of five help seeking behaviors, along with improved mental health literacy and decreased mental health-related stigma. Intent to seek help was unchanged. Conclusions: Several help seeking behavioral factors, mental health knowledge, and stigma improved post-YAM intervention. All three domains are likely protective against suicide. A randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of YAM in preventing suicidal behaviors is warranted.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Help seeking behaviors
KW - Mental health literacy
KW - Stigma
KW - Suicide
KW - Suicide prevention intervention
KW - YAM
KW - Youth aware of mental health
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.01.006
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.01.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 32115325
AN - SCOPUS:85080085763
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 67
SP - 101
EP - 107
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 1
ER -