Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28335758›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2017

What's wrong with John? a randomised controlled trial of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training with nursing students.

Sharyn Burns, Gemma Crawford, Jonathan Hallett, Kristen Hunt, Hui Jun Chih, P J Matt Tilley

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
16.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. The Impact of Mental Health Literacy Training Programs on the Mental Health Literacy of University Students: a Systematic Review.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2022
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sharyn BurnsCollaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia. s.burns@curtin.edu.au.
Gemma CrawfordCollaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.
Jonathan HallettCollaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.
Kristen HuntCollaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.
Hui Jun ChihSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
P J Matt TilleyCollaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia.
Curtin University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe prevalence of mental health problems have been found to be higher among university students compared to their non-student peers. Nursing students in particular face a range of additional stressors which may impact their undergraduate performance and their careers. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) aims to increase mental health literacy and to reduce stigma and may positively impact on the student population. This paper describes a MHFA randomised controlled trial targeting nursing students at a large Australian university. This study aimed to measure the impact of the MHFA course on mental health literacy, mental health first aid intentions, confidence in helping someone with a mental health problem and stigmatising attitudes including social distance.

methodsParticipants were first year nursing students (n = 181) randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 92) or control (n = 89) group. Intervention group participants received the standardised MHFA course for nursing students. Online self-report questionnaires were completed at three time intervals: baseline (one week prior to the intervention: T

resultsThere was a significant improvement among intervention compared to control group participants across the three time periods for knowledge scores (p < 0.001), confidence in helping (p < 0.001), mental health first aid intentions (p < 0.001), total personal stigma (p < 0.05), personal dangerous/unpredictable stigma (p < 0.05) and social distance (p < 0.05) scores.

conclusionMHFA is useful training to embed in university courses and has the potential to enhance mental health literacy and reduce stigmatising attitudes and social distance. While this course has particular salience for nursing and other health science students, there are broader benefits to the general university population that should be considered and opportunities accordingly explored for all students to complete the course.

trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000861651 . Retrospectively registered 11 August 2014.

Indexed as

CurriculumEducation, NursingFirst AidAdultAttitude of Health PersonnelAustraliaCareer ChoiceFemaleHumansMaleMental DisordersNew ZealandPsychiatric NursingPsychological DistanceSocial StigmaStress, PsychologicalAustraliaDepressionMental Health First AidMental health literacyNursing studentsPrevention and early interventionRecognition of depressionSocial distanceStigmatising attitudesUniversity

Identifiers

PMID28335758
PMCPMC5364573
OpenAlexW2598908263

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.