Effects of mental health literacy promoting program on mental health literacy and psychological distress in Thai secondary school students: A quasi-experimental study

บทคัดย่อ

Mental disorders are acknowledged as a public health concern that develops
throughout adolescence. Implementing a mental health literacy program is
essential for preventing these disorders. This quasi-experimental investigation
evaluates the impacts of a mental health literacy promoting program (MHLPP)
on mental health literacy and psychological distress in Thai secondary school
students. A multi-stage, random sampling method was employed to select 66
students as participants at secondary schools in Nakhon Pathom province,
Thailand, during the second semester of the 2023 academic year. These students
were divided into an intervention group (n=33) and a control group (n=33) based
on their classrooms. Data were gathered using a modified Mental Health Literacy
Questionnaire and the Thai version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ),
with Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities of .75 and .94, respectively. The mean scores
of mental health literacy and psychological distress between the two groups
were compared using independent t-test and Mixed-model ANOVA. Results
demonstrated that the intervention group had significantly higher mean mental
health literacy scores and significantly lower mean psychological distress scores
at both post-intervention and two-week follow-up stages compared to the control
group. Moreover, the mental health literacy scores were significantly improved
immediately after and two weeks after the program, compared with the baseline
(pre-test). Psychological distress scores were also significantly elevated post
intervention and two weeks follow-up compared with the baseline. These findings
indicate that the MHLPP has the potential to enhance mental health literacy and
alleviate psychological distress among secondary school students.