ArticleBMC pediatrics2025
Perceived feasibility and acceptability of an innovative emotion regulation programme with physical activity elements for older South African adolescents from low-income settings: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdaptive emotion regulation and physical activity may protect against mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety in adolescents. However, contextually relevant psychosocial interventions remain scarce in South Africa, and limited research explores adolescents' lived experiences and perceived impacts of these interventions. This qualitative study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and perceived impact of a co-adapted, task-shared emotion regulation intervention incorporating physical activity.
methodsThe group-based programme was piloted in a single-arm feasibility study with 85 adolescents (aged 15-18) across four low-income schools in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews (40-60 min) were conducted with adolescents (n = 20), community stakeholders (n = 7), and facilitators (n = 4) to explore their perceptions of the intervention.
resultsFive key themes emerged: (1) Perceived programme acceptability, (2) Experiences with training and supervision, (3) Barriers and facilitators to delivery and retention, (4) Perceived impact on mental health and (5) Facilitators of learning. Participants found the intervention engaging and relevant, highlighting its role in strengthening emotion regulation skills. Adolescents reported improved mood and behaviour, with reductions in stress, anger, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, alongside enhanced academic engagement and social connectedness. Facilitators viewed the task-sharing model, supported by competency-based training and supervision, as comprehensive and valuable for successful implementation. Experiential learning, enjoyment, and the use of digital and hardcopy materials were found to be key facilitators of learning in the programme.
conclusionsThe findings highlight the feasibility and acceptability of integrating emotion regulation skills with creative, movement-based strategies in adolescent mental health interventions. By combining emotion regulation training with physical activity in an engaging group setting, the programme promoted adaptive emotional coping strategies. This study emphasizes the potential of creative, experiential, evidence-based approaches to address adolescent mental health needs in low-resource settings. This feasibility study was registered retrospectively with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR202412659160564, registered 17/12/2024). This study can be accessed at: https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/Search.aspx .
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.