 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Stephen L. Brown, PhD, Department of Health Education and Recreation, Southern Illinois University, Mailcode 4632, Carbondale, IL 62901-4632, 618-314-4168, slbrown@siu.edu
Leading mental health groups are calling for more emphasis on: removing stigmas associated with mental illness, researching and delivering preventive measures, and improving access to effective treatments.1 Small-group, educational approaches may partially fill these educational and therapy gaps.1,2 Unfortunately, research regarding such preventative interventions has been scarce.3,4 This may be partially due to the commonly held belief that psychological skills can be effectively taught only by licensed counselors. However, Albert Ellis and others argue that these skills can and should be taught by trained educators.5-7 The college classroom may provide an ideal laboratory for teaching preventive mental health skills.7-9 This study examined the degree to which three different classroom-based interventions lowered reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. The groups consisted of all willing participants in one of three college courses: a mental health skills course [MENTAL] (n=27), a conventional stress management course [STRESS] (n=72), and a non-mental health-related course [CONTROL] (n=92). ANCOVA showed significant differences between the MENTAL group and the CONTROL group on the anxiety and the depression measures. Significant differences were also observed between the MENTAL group and the STRESS group on the same measures. Although the effects in this study were small to moderate, the intervention used in the MENTAL group appears to hold some promise as a cost-effective strategy for primary prevention of mild to moderate mental health problems. Further research should use more rigorous design, employ longer follow-up, and attempt to isolate which components or skills in the intervention are the most powerful.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mental Health, Education
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.