Background and objective:

Considering the worldwide increase in mental health problems among adolescents and the hypothetical positive impact of mental health literacy (MHL) on mental health promotive behaviours, this study examined the effect of a MHL intervention in a sample of Iranian high school students.

Design:

Educational intervention with a pretest–posttest and control group design conducted among Iranian high school students in 2019.

Setting:

Four public schools in Shiraz, Iran.

Methods:

In this study, 220 students (110 in each intervention and control group) were selected using the cluster multi-stage sampling and participated in the study. Participants completed the adolescent MHL questionnaire at two stages (pretest and posttest). A training programme which comprised six 60- to 90-minutes sessions using collaborative learning techniques and printed materials was conducted with the experimental group. Data were subjected to covariance analysis.

Results:

No significant differences were found between study groups regarding demographic and MHL scores before the intervention. After completing the training programme, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in MHL and subscale scores (p < .01). Covariance analysis confirmed an improvement of MHL in the intervention group after controlling for pretest scores but not in the control group.

Conclusion:

Study findings demonstrated the efficacy of the training intervention to improve adolescents’ MHL. Further research is recommended to examine the effects of the same intervention among boys and longer-term outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

促进女学生的心理健康素养：基于学校的教育干预

背景与目的：

考虑到世界范围内青少年心理健康问题的增加以及心理健康素养（MHL）对心理健康促进行为的假设积极影响，本研究在伊朗高中学生样本中研究了MHL干预的效果。

设计：

2019年在伊朗高中学生中进行了前测，后测和对照组设计的教育干预。

环境：

伊朗设拉子的四所公立学校。

方法：

在这项研究中，使用聚类多阶段抽样选择了220名学生（每个干预和对照组中110名），并参加了研究。参与者在两个阶段（前测和后测）完成了青少年MHL问卷。与实验组一起进行了一项培训计划，其中包括六次60至90分钟的会议，这些会议使用协作学习技术和印刷材料。对数据进行协方差分析。

结果：

干预前，研究组之间在人口统计学和MHL评分方面没有发现显着差异。在完成培训计划后，干预组显示MHL和分量表得分有显着改善（p <.01）。协方差分析证实，在控制了测试前分数之后，干预组的MHL有所改善，而对照组则没有。

结论：

研究结果表明，该培训干预措施可以改善青少年的MHL。建议进行进一步的研究，以检查相同干预对男孩和长期结局的影响。