IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i2p1303-d1031763.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid Training among Undergraduate Students in Switzerland: A Randomized Control Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Shota Dzemaili

    (La Source, School of Nursing Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Jérôme Pasquier

    (Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Annie Oulevey Bachmann

    (La Source, School of Nursing Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Meichun Mohler-Kuo

    (La Source, School of Nursing Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland)

Abstract

Half to three-fourths of mental disorders appear during adolescence or young adulthood, and the treatment gap is mainly due to lack of knowledge, lack of perceived need, and the stigmatization of mental illness. The aims of this study were to implement and evaluate a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training program among undergraduates. Participants were second-year students from two universities in the French-speaking region of Switzerland ( N = 107), who were randomly assigned to an intervention group ( n = 53) or control group ( n = 54). The intervention group received a 12-h MHFA course. Online questionnaires were completed before the intervention (T0), and both 3 months (T1) and 12 months (T2) after the intervention in order to evaluate the participants’ mental health knowledge, recognition of schizophrenia, and attitudes and behaviors towards mental illness. We used Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to examine the effects of intervention over time. After the MHFA course, the intervention group showed significantly increased basic knowledge and confidence helping others with mental illness and reduced stigmatization at both T1 and T2 compared to their baseline scores and compared to control groups. This suggests that the MHFA training program is effective and has significant short-term and long-term impacts, in terms of enhancing basic knowledge about mental health and improving attitudes towards mental illness among undergraduate students.

Suggested Citation

  • Shota Dzemaili & Jérôme Pasquier & Annie Oulevey Bachmann & Meichun Mohler-Kuo, 2023. "The Effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid Training among Undergraduate Students in Switzerland: A Randomized Control Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1303-:d:1031763
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1303/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1303/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amy J Morgan & Anna Ross & Nicola J Reavley, 2018. "Systematic review and meta-analysis of Mental Health First Aid training: Effects on knowledge, stigma, and helping behaviour," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raquel Simões de Almeida & Maria João Trigueiro & Paula Portugal & Sara de Sousa & Vítor Simões-Silva & Filipa Campos & Maria Silva & António Marques, 2023. "Mental Health Literacy and Stigma in a Municipality in the North of Portugal: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Masatsugu Orui & Maiko Fukasawa & Naoko Horikoshi & Yuriko Suzuki & Norito Kawakami, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of a Gatekeeper Training Program Regarding Anxiety about Radiation Health Effects Following a Nuclear Power Plant Accident: A Single-Arm Intervention Pilot Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Mao-Sheng Ran & Man-Man Peng & Yuen Yum Yau & Tian-Ming Zhang & Xu-Hong Li & Irene Yin Ling Wong & Siuman Ng & Graham Thornicroft & Cecilia Lai-Wan Chan & Lin Lu, 2022. "Knowledge, contact and stigma of mental illness: Comparing three stakeholder groups in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(2), pages 365-375, March.
    4. Matthew Witry & Hacer Karamese & Anthony Pudlo, 2020. "Evaluation of participant reluctance, confidence, and self-reported behaviors since being trained in a pharmacy Mental Health First Aid initiative," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Joana Cruz & Piran C. L. White & Andrew Bell & Peter A. Coventry, 2020. "Effect of Extreme Weather Events on Mental Health: A Narrative Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for the UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Linda Beckman & Lisa Hellström, 2021. "Views on Adolescents’ Mental Health in Sweden—A Qualitative Study among Different Professionals Working with Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Yuanyuan Liao & Moses Agyemang Ameyaw & Chen Liang & Weijian Li, 2023. "Research on the Effect of Evidence-Based Intervention on Improving Students’ Mental Health Literacy Led by Ordinary Teachers: A Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Melanie McKoin Owens & Alexis Zickafoose & Gary Wingenbach & Sana Haddad & Jamie Freeny & Josephine Engels, 2022. "Selected Texan K-12 Educators’ Perceptions of Youth Suicide Prevention Training," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, October.
    9. Amoneeta Beckstein & Marie Chollier & Sangeeta Kaur & Ananta Raj Ghimire, 2022. "Mental Wellbeing and Boosting Resilience to Mitigate the Adverse Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Narrative Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    10. Danran Bu & Pak-Kwong Chung & Chun-Qing Zhang & Jingdong Liu & Xiang Wang, 2020. "Mental Health Literacy Intervention on Help-Seeking in Athletes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1303-:d:1031763. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.