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

Background: 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.

Aims: To evaluate the effects of a teacher-led "online Short MHL Program (o-SMHLP)" delivered online to grade 10 students in their classrooms.

Methods: Students (age 15-16) were randomly assigned to an o-SMHLP 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.

Results: All outcomes were significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group post-intervention, except for "intention to seek help".

Conclusions: 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".