Healthy
Conditions
Brief summary
Currently, one in five rangatahi (young people) in Aotearoa report difficulty accessing support for their mental health concerns. This treatment gap has prompted academics and clinicians to consider whether online and/or school-based interventions can increase access to evidence-based mental health care. This research is a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Project SOLVE, an online problem-solving intervention, compared to Project Success, an activity that teaches young people study skills. Underdeveloped problem-solving skills have been associated with varying presentations of mental distress, including depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. This association has meant problem solving is often featured as a core component of therapeutic interventions, and strengthening problem solving skills has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in youth who experience mental health concerns. For these reasons, the investigators hope that Project SOLVE will support the development of problem solving in rangatahi in Aotearoa and have a positive effect on their proximal and longitudinal mental health outcomes.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALProject SOLVE
Project SOLVE is a 30-minute self-guided online activity that includes an introduction to problem solving and which types of problems might be most appropriate for this skill; a description of how the brain facilitates problem solving; vignettes demonstrating how older adolescents have solved their problems; scientific evidence that problem solving can work; practice exercises; and activities to encourage the use of problem solving in daily life. The intervention teaches students how to solve problems via the SOLVE framework (i.e., Saying what the problem is; One goal to aim for; Listing some solutions; Voting for the best solution; Exploring what works).
BEHAVIORALProject Success
Project Success is comparable to Project SOLVE in format and length (i.e., a 30 minute online, self-guided intervention) and teaches young people three strategies to reach their academic goals: how to take effective notes, how to break big assignments down into smaller tasks, and how to ask trusted others for help.
Sponsors
Whau Mental Health Foundation (New Zealand)
The University of Waikato
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 14 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Any Year 9 student (ages 12-14 years old) at a participating school who provides assent.
Exclusion criteria
* Any Year 9 student (ages 12-14 years old) at a participating school who does not provide assent and/or whose parent/caregiver does not provided consent.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Internalising and externalising symptoms | Immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Internalising and externalising symptoms will be measured using the Behaviour and Feelings Survey. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| General Self-Efficacy | Immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Self-efficacy will be measured using the General Self-Efficacy Scale. |
| Hope | Immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Hope will be measured using the Child Hope Scale. |
| Social Problem Solving Skills | Immediately pre-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Social problem solving will be measured by the Social Problem-Solving Inventory - Revised Short-Form. |
| Well-Being | Immediately pre-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Well-being will be measured using the World Health Organisation Well-Being Index. |
| Educational Self-Efficacy | Immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Educational self-efficacy will be measured using the Educational Self-Efficacy Scale. |
| Hopelessness | Immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and 12 weeks post-intervention | Hopelessness will be measured using the Beck Hopelessness Scale - Shortened. |
Countries
New Zealand
Contacts
Primary ContactMorgan T Blind, BA(Hon)
Outcome results
None listed