The effects of a teacher-led online mental health literacy program for high school students: a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial

Adolescents are vulnerable to mental health problems, and this vulnerability may be enhanced in situations such as the present COVID-19 pandemic. Online mental health literacy (MHL) education may help adolescents maintain/improve their mental health, especially in situations where face-to-face education is difficult. To evaluate the effects of a teacher-led “online Short MHL Program (<i>o-SMHLP</i>)” delivered online to grade 10 students in their classrooms. Students (age 15–16) were randomly assigned to an <i>o-SMHLP</i> group (n = 115 (3 classes)) or a control group (n = 155 (4 classes)) at the class level. The program consisted of a 20-minute session which included an animated video. The students completed a self-report questionnaire pre- and post-intervention assessing outcomes including: “Knowledge about mental health/illnesses”, “Recognition of necessity to seek help”, “Intention to seek help”, and “Unwillingness to socialize with people having mental illness”. Mixed effects modeling was employed for analyses. All outcomes were significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group post-intervention, except for “intention to seek help”. The present study shows the effectiveness of an online MHL intervention while identifying the need for the development of effective online programs targeting adolescents’ “intention to seek help”.