Impact of Preventive Mental Health Programme on Social/Emotional Functioning and Resilience in Children in South Africa
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Psychological Well-Being
- Sponsor
- Little Lions Child Coaching
- Enrollment
- 150
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Mean change from baseline in resilience scores using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure
- Status
- Active, not recruiting
- Last Updated
- last year
Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of a mental health prevention and promotion programme delivered to children (ages 8 to 13) living in under-resourced communities in South Africa.
The main question it aims to answer is:
Does the programme increase resilience and improve psychological well-being?
Participants will be asked to attend the programme twice a week after school for a period of six weeks and complete a series of questionnaires.
Researchers will compare children who attended the programme to those who did not to see if the programme resulted in better social/emotional functioning and resilience.
Detailed Description
Although the well-being of vulnerable South African children is a significant public health concern, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of mental health prevention and promotion interventions in low- and middle- income countries. Little Lions Child Coaching is a South African youth-led, community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aims to normalise mental health conversations and empower the next generation to tap into their emotional resilience by providing accessible mental health support to children in under-resourced communities surrounding Cape Town. The aim of this effectiveness study is to measure how a mental health prevention and promotion programme, designed and implemented by Little Lions Child Coaching, impacts the resilience and social/emotional functioning of children (ages 8 to 13) living in townships surrounding Cape Town. Participants in the intervention condition will receive the programme twice a week after school for a period of six weeks to boost their emotional awareness, confidence, coping skills and resilience. Resilience scores will be compared to a control group.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Between 8 and 13 years old
- •Fluent in Xhosa and/or English
- •Lives in one of the following communities in Cape Town, South Africa: Khayelitsha, Langa, or Mfuleni
Exclusion Criteria
- •Younger than 8 years old or older than 13 years old
- •Do not have a strong understanding of the language of instruction (i.e., Xhosa/English)
- •Lives in an area outside of Khayelitsha, Langa, or Mfuleni
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Mean change from baseline in resilience scores using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure
Time Frame: At baseline and in 6 weeks
Higher scores on the Child and Youth Resilience Measure indicate greater resilience. The minimum score is 17 and the maximum score is 51. A t-test will be used to determine whether the control versus intervention group had significantly different mean scores on the Child and Youth Resilience measure after the intervention relative to the baseline assessment.