Group Intervention for Adolescent Anxiety and Depression: Outcomes of a Randomized Trial with Adolescents in Kenya.

Group Intervention for Adolescent Anxiety and Depression: Outcomes of a Randomized Trial with Adolescents in Kenya. Behav Ther. 2020 Jul;51(4):601-615 Authors: Osborn TL, Wasil AR, Venturo-Conerly KE, Schleider JL, Weisz JR Abstract Youth mental health interventions in low-resource communities may benefit from including empirically supported elements, using stigma-free content, and using trained lay-providers. We developed and evaluated such an intervention, targeting adolescent depression and anxiety in Kenya, where mental health care is limited by social stigma and a paucity of providers. Kenyan adolescents (N = 51, ages 14-17, 60.78% female) from a school in an urban slum in Nairobi with self-reported moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression or anxiety were randomized to the 4-week "Shamiri" ("thrive") group intervention or a study skills control intervention of equal duration. The Shamiri intervention included growth mindset, gratitude, and value affirmation exercises. The content was delivered by recent high school graduates (ages 17-21, 60% male) trained as lay-providers. Participants met in school once-a-week in groups of 9-12 youths (average group size 10). Compared to the study-skills control, Shamiri produced greater reductions in adolescent depression symptoms (p = .038; d = .32) and anxiety symptoms (p = .039; d = .54) from baseline to 4-week follow-up, and greater improvements in academic performance...
Source: Behavior Therapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Behav Ther Source Type: research