Mental health in schools: the development and evaluation of a universal educational intervention

ISRCTN	ISRCTN07406026
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN07406026
Secondary identifying numbers	2.3

Submission date: 02/06/2011
Registration date: 28/07/2011
Last edited: 22/02/2016

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
There is growing pressure on schools to address the emotional well-being and mental health of needs of their students as the majority of mental illnesses will have their beginnings in childhood and adolescence. Though a number of interventions have been conducted with the intention to address mental health literacy, stigma of mental illness, or emotional health in schools, an inconsistency of reporting standards and methodologies have led many systematic reviews to claim that more rigorous research is needed . The study aims to develop and test a secondary school-based educational intervention to target stigma of mental illness, mental health literacy, and emotional health, utilising contact with young people with experience of living with mental illness as a way to engage with students.

Who can participate?
The project is currently running in secondary schools in the West Midlands. Classes are led by members of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust, as well as voluntary teaching assistants including current and ex-service users of the Trust.

What does the study involve?
The project aims to teach classes of 12-13 year olds in Birmingham secondary schools about mental health, including common misconceptions of mental illness and the importance of looking after your own mental health. Young people aged between 18 -35 who have experienced mental illness themselves support the facilitation of the classes and talk to the pupils about their own experiences (usually for approximately 10 - 20 minutes) which has proven to be a very powerful way to combat stigma. Students are randomly allocated to one of two groups:
The contact and education group is taught throughout the day by a young person who has experience of living with mental illness. The education only group received a brief history of mental illness.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
No risks associated with this study

Where is the study run from?
The intervention days take part within secondary schools in the West Midlands

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in March 2011 and is expected to end in January 2012, with a follow up data collection period extending to June 2012.

Who is funding the study?
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health
Research and Care (NIHR CLAHRC); Birmingham and Black Country.

Who is the main contact?
Katharine Chisholm
Kec928@bham.ac.uk

Contact information

Miss Katharine Chisholm
Scientific

School of Psychology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)121 414 7209
Email	kec928@bham.ac.uk

Study information

Study design	Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)	Community
Study type	Treatment
Participant information sheet	Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a participant information sheet
Scientific title	The development and feasibility evaluation of a universal educational intervention for secondary school age pupils to combat stigma and misconception of mental illness and to improve mental health literacy and mental health
Study acronym	YouthSpace in Schools
Study objectives	Primary research question: Is education in combination with contact with a young person with experience living with mental illness, better than education alone for reducing stigma, and for improving mental health literacy and mental health? It is hypothesised that participants in the contact and education condition will show significantly reduced stigma of mental illness compared with participants in the education only condition (control condition), that participants in the contact and education condition will show significantly improved mental health literacy compared with participants in the education only condition, and that participants in the contact and education condition will show significantly improved mental health compared with participants in the education only condition Further hypothesises relating to secondary research questions are: 1. A reduction in stigma and increased mental health literacy will lead to significantly more positive attitudes towards help-seeking 2. Improvement in mental health will be significantly mediated by and improvement in resilience.
Ethics approval(s)	University of Birminghams ethics committee, 16/06/2010, ERN_10-0397
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Mental Health
Intervention	There are two study arms- contact and education, and education only. The methodology for each is the same. The only difference between the two groups is that pupils in the contact and education group are taught throughout the day by a young person who has experience living with mental illness, and this young person talks to the pupils about these experiences. In the education only condition, instead of this pupils receive a brief history of mental illness. The intervention will last for one day in each school, and cover three interrelated subjects 1. Stigma of mental health issues 2. Mental health literacy 3. Improving our own mental health, including dealing with stress and anxiety, how thinking affects our behaviour and feelings, ways to cope with strong emotions, and the link between physical and mental health. In the contact and education condition a young person with experience living with mental illness will work with the pupils as a teaching assistant and will also give a 10-20 minute talk about living with a mental illness to the pupils. The intervention will be delivered by members of the research team, NHS staff, and current or past mental health service users. Training days and workshop notes will be provided for all individuals prior to their involvement in facilitating the interventions to ensure consistency and fidelity of implementation. The intervention will be delivered to classes of 20 30 pupils (depending on the usual class size of the school). There will be a pre-test (3-4 weeks prior to intervention), post test (1-2 weeks post intervention) and at six month follow up.
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure	1. Stigma of mental illness - Reported & Intended Behaviour Scale 2. Mental health literacy - Mental Health Knowledge Scale 3. Mental health/emotional well-being - The Strengths and Difficulties Scale Outcomes will be measured pre-test, post-test, and at six month follow up
Secondary outcome measures	1. Resilience to mental illness - The Resilience Scale 2. Schizotypal thinking - The Schizotypal Personality-Brief Form 3. Attitudes to Help-seeking- In the next 12 months if you were to experience a mental illness, how likely are you to seek help? Definitely not/ Very unilikely/ A bit unlikely/ Not sure/ Likely/ Very likely/ Definitely Outcomes will be measured pre-test, post-test, and at six month follow up
Overall study start date	10/01/2011
Completion date	20/12/2011

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Other
Age group	Child
Lower age limit	12 Years
Upper age limit	13 Years
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	738 - 1658
Key inclusion criteria	1. School: Based in the West Midlands Secondary schools represent a rough cross section of West Midlands school types, e.g. grammar, comprehensive, independent. Girls only, boys only, mixed gender. 2. Individual participant: 2.1. Pupils aged 12 -13 2.2. Pupil has sufficient competency of the English language to be able to complete questionnaire
Key exclusion criteria	1. School: 1.1. Based outside the West Midlands 1.2. Primary school or sixth form college 1.3. No more than 4 grammar schools, 5 comprehensive schools, 2 independent schools to be involved in the intervention. 1.4. No more than 3 all girls schools, 3 all boys schools, or 6 mixed schools to be involved in the intervention. 2. Individual participant: 2.1. Pupils age 11, or 14 - 18 2.2. Pupil does not have sufficient competency of the English language to be able to complete questionnaire
Date of first enrolment	10/01/2011
Date of final enrolment	20/12/2011

Locations

Countries of recruitment

England
United Kingdom

Study participating centre

University of Birmingham

Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

University of Birmingham (UK)
University/education

School of Psychology
c/o Professor Max Birchwood
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
England
United Kingdom

"ROR"	https://ror.org/03angcq70

Funders

Funder type

Government

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC)

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination plan	Not provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Protocol article	2 protocol	22/03/2012		Yes	No
Results article	results	19/02/2016		Yes	No

Editorial Notes

22/02/2016: Publication reference added.
30/11/2015: Publication reference added.