Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30917811›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2019

Does Mental Health First Aid training improve the mental health of aid recipients? The training for parents of teenagers randomised controlled trial.

Amy J Morgan, Julie-Anne A Fischer, Laura M Hart, Claire M Kelly, Betty A Kitchener, Nicola J Reavley, Marie B H Yap, Stefan Cvetkovski, Anthony F Jorm

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

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
7.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. Evaluation of theInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
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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

9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Amy J MorganCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia. ajmorgan@unimelb.edu.au.
Julie-Anne A FischerCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Laura M HartCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Claire M KellyMental Health First Aid Australia, Parkville, Australia.
Betty A KitchenerMental Health First Aid Australia, Parkville, Australia.
Nicola J ReavleyCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Marie B H YapCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Stefan CvetkovskiCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Anthony F JormCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
University of Melbourne · AUDeakin University · AULa Trobe University · AUMonash University · AURMIT University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is well-established evidence that Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training improves knowledge about how to support someone developing a mental health problem, but less evidence that this support improves the mental health of the recipient of aid. This randomised controlled trial aimed to assess the long-term effects of MHFA training of parents on the mental health of their adolescent children.

methods384 Australian parents of an adolescent aged 12-15 were randomised to receive either the 14-h Youth MHFA course or the 15-h Australian Red Cross Provide First Aid course. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 1-year, and 2-year follow-up in both parents and adolescents. Primary outcomes were cases of adolescent mental health problems, and parental support towards their adolescent if they developed a mental health problem, rated by the parent and adolescent. Secondary outcomes included parent knowledge about mental health problems, intentions and confidence in supporting a young person, stigmatizing attitudes, and help-seeking for mental health problems.

resultsParent and adolescent reports showed no significant difference between training groups in the proportion of cases of adolescents with a mental health problem over time (ps > .05). There was also no significant difference between training groups in the quality of parental support provided to their adolescent at 1- or 2-year follow-up (ps > .05). In contrast, some secondary outcomes showed benefits from the Youth MHFA training relative to the control, with increased parental knowledge about mental health problems at 1-year (d = 0.43) and 2-year follow-up (d = 0.26), and increased confidence to help a young person (d = 0.26) and intentions to provide effective support (d = 0.22) at 1-year follow-up.

conclusionsThe study showed some improvements in mental health literacy in training recipients, but could not detect changes in the mental health of adolescents and the support provided to them by their parents if they had a mental health problem. However, there was a lack of power to detect primary outcome effects and therefore the question of whether MHFA training leads to better outcomes in the recipients of aid remains to be further explored.

trial registrationACTRN12612000390886 , registered retrospectively 5/4/2012.

Indexed as

Parent-Child RelationsAdolescentAustraliaFemaleFirst AidHealth LiteracyHealth PromotionHumansMaleMental DisordersMental HealthParentsRetrospective StudiesSocial StigmaAdolescentHelp-seeking behaviorMental disordersMental health first aidSocial support

Identifiers

PMID30917811
PMCPMC6437895
OpenAlexW2945051157

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.