Promoting mental health among young prisoners in Cambodia
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN12739323 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN12739323 |
- Submission date
- 24/11/2022
- Registration date
- 28/11/2022
- Last edited
- 30/01/2023
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Prisoners are considered one of the most vulnerable populations to mental health problems and it has been reported that the prevalence of these problems is five to ten times higher among prisoners as compared to the general population in different international studies. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed and recommended a life skills education (LSE) programme to promote mental health and social well-being among adolescents. This program has been implemented in many settings and has proved to be effective in reducing mental health among young prisoners in some international studies but none of them are from Cambodia. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a life skills education programme on mental health and life skills among young prisoners in Cambodia.
Who can participate?
Young male prisoners aged 15-24 years who were under appeal and convicted and remained in the prisons for a minimum period of 6 months after the pre-test
What does the study involve?
For all study participants, a breathing exercise was included. For those selected in the intervention group, a 6 weeks educational program was implemented.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The participants might have gained life skills and other social competencies to more effectively deal with daily life challenges happening in the prison setting such as peer pressure and bullying issue and thus contributing to reducing mental health problems. There were no potential risks for attending this intervention programme.
Where is the study run from?
The program was implemented in four prisons that were selected from a total of 24 prisons in Cambodia. Caritas Cambodia, an international NGO, was responsible for running the study.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2016 to May 2020
Who is funding the study?
1. Swedish Research Council (Sweden)
2. Caritas Cambodia (Cambodia)
Who is the main contact?
Puthy Pat, pat.puthy@umu.se
Contact information
Principal Investigator
44, street 47BT
Boeun Tompun
MeancheB
Phnom Penh
12351
Cambodia
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-6459-0052 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +855 (0)12702906 |
| pat.puthy@umu.se |
Study information
| Study design | Randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Prison/detention |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Scientific title | The effect of a life skills education programme on mental health and social competencies among young prisoners in Cambodia: an intervention study |
| Study acronym | LSE-Prison |
| Study objectives | This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a World Health Organisation recommended life skills education programme on the mental health and life skills competencies among young prisoners in Cambodia. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 20/01/2017, The National Ethics Committee for Health Research, Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia (#80, Sangkat Beoung Kok 2, Khan Toul Kork, Phnom Penh, Cambodia; +855 (0)23 880 345; nouthsarida@gmail.com), ref: N33NGCHR |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Different types of mental health problems were assessed including anxiety/depression, withdrawal depression, somatic complaints, thought problems, social problems, rule-breaking behaviour, aggression, and attention deficit |
| Intervention | We randomly selected four prisons out of 24 prisons in the country. The participating young prisoners in each prison were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups using an online randomization process (https://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/random/). All 412 participating young prisoners (both groups) received a stress-reducing intervention session on breathing exercise. The intervention included a 45-minute structured session to understand the stress of living away from families and being in prison, as well as how to relax using simple breathing techniques. This session was implemented by two facilitators with more than 5 years of experience in conducting workshops on effective stress management. One week after the breathing technique sessions, the LSE programme was implemented in the intervention group over 6 consecutive weeks, each session lasting for approximately 90 minutes. The intervention group was divided into groups of 20 to 25 members to participate in each session. The following six modules were applied in the same order to the young prisoners in the intervention group in all four prisons: ‘Coping with stress–facing challenges and problems,’ ‘Self-awareness – Relationship-dealing with anger,’ ‘Relationship-peer pressure,’ ‘Relationship-peer pressure – say ‘No’ to drugs and tobacco,’ ‘Self-awareness-self-esteem,’ and ‘Self-awareness-coping with stress-suicide.’ The LSE sessions were facilitated by the first author and a member of the research team, who both have more than 10 years of experience in implementing LSE programmes in Cambodia. The recommended WHO LSE programme was previously used in the Cambodian school setting and the two members of the present study were also part of the intervention team in those schools. Each session included five steps: introduction to the topic, activities (role-play, group work, or games), discussion, summary, and activities that were assigned for the prisoners to do between the sessions. During the intervention sessions, less time was allocated for writing activities due to the low level of literacy among the prisoners, so more time was spent on demonstrations, fun activities, and role-play to encourage active participation. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | 1. Mental health problems evaluated using the Youth Self-Report scale at pre and post-assessment 2. Life skills competence measured using the Life Skills Development – Adolescent Form scale at pre and post-assessment |
| Secondary outcome measures | There are no secondary outcome measures |
| Overall study start date | 20/10/2016 |
| Completion date | 10/05/2022 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Sex | Male |
| Target number of participants | 500 |
| Total final enrolment | 412 |
| Key inclusion criteria | All young male prisoners from ages 15 to 24 in the four prisons who remained in the prisons for a minimum period of 6 months after the pre-test |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Female prisoners 2. Older than 25 years 3. Prisoners who remained in the prisons for less than 6 months after the pre-test |
| Date of first enrolment | 19/02/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 26/11/2019 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Cambodia
Study participating centre
Phnom Penh
12010
Cambodia
Sponsor information
Charity
#416A, St.7E
Phum Paprak Tbong
Sangkat Kakap
Phnom Penh
120912
Cambodia
| Phone | +855 (0)23 888 126 |
|---|---|
| ccamh-admin@caritascambodia.org | |
| Website | http://www.caritascambodia.org/ |
Funders
Funder type
Research council
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Swedish Research Council, VR
- Location
- Sweden
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/01/2023 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | This study is planned to be published in an international journal. The findings will be shared and disseminated among prison officials and other scholars nationally in workshops and internationally at different international scientific conferences. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy and confidentiality reasons but are available from the corresponding author. Researchers should provide a methodological sound proposal and ethical approval. The request should be directed to Dr Puthy Pat (pat.puthy@umu.se) and the requestor will need to sign a data-access agreement. • The type of data that will be shared: quantitative data set • Dates of availability: Approximately one week after the reasonable request • Whether consent from participants was required and obtained: Consent from participants was not required. Research team obtained consent from them to use it. • Comments on data anonymization: The data is anonymous. No identity of the participants was shown as the codes were generated to represent each participant. • Any ethical or legal restrictions: no restrictions |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol file | 25/11/2022 | No | No | ||
| Other unpublished results | 24/01/2023 | No | No | ||
| Results article | 01/01/2023 | 30/01/2023 | Yes | No |
Additional files
Editorial Notes
30/01/2023: Publication reference added.
24/01/2023: The study setting has been updated from ‘Other’.
24/01/2023: The unpublished results were added as an additional file.
25/11/2022: Trial's existence confirmed by The National Ethics Committee for Health Research, Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia.
