ArticleBMC psychiatry2022
The feasibility of using life skills training in primary schools to improve mental health and academic performance: a pilot study in Kenya.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Behavioural interventions targeting the prevention and treatment of young children's mental health problems in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Mental health literacy: Perspectives from Northern Kenya Turkana adolescents.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is no Kenyan evidence on the relationship between mental illness and academic performance. We aimed to determine the effect of life skills training on mental health and academic performance.
methodsWe administered to 1848 primary school children a researcher designed socio-demographic questionnaire, and the Youth Self Report (YSR) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to their parents, followed by eight sessions of life skills training. We extracted data from the individual records of each child on overall performance pre and post training separated by one year. We conducted descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, multivariate linear regression analysis and linear mixed model analysis to assess changing patterns of academic performance and any predictive characteristics.
resultsThere was significant (p < 0.05) improvement in overall academic performance (aggregate marks and all individual subjects) for both lower primary and upper primary classes after the life-skills training intervention. For lower classes (2-4 grades) increase in academic performance was significantly associated with fathers and mothers education levels, region and class. For upper classes, (5-7 grades) increase in academic performance was associated with region, class and age.
conclusionsLife skills training is recommended as it could improve academic performance, but predicted by socio-demographic factors.
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Registered trials
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