Impact of Preventive Mental Health Programme on Social/Emotional Functioning and Resilience in Children in South Africa

NCT ID: NCT06445777

Last Updated: 2024-10-15

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 150 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-08-19
• Study Completion Date: 2025-03-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of a mental health prevention and promotion programme delivered to children (ages 8 to 13) living in under-resourced communities in South Africa.

The main question it aims to answer is:

Does the programme increase resilience and improve psychological well-being?

Participants will be asked to attend the programme twice a week after school for a period of six weeks and complete a series of questionnaires.

Researchers will compare children who attended the programme to those who did not to see if the programme resulted in better social/emotional functioning and resilience.

Detailed Description

Although the well-being of vulnerable South African children is a significant public health concern, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of mental health prevention and promotion interventions in low- and middle- income countries. Little Lions Child Coaching is a South African youth-led, community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aims to normalise mental health conversations and empower the next generation to tap into their emotional resilience by providing accessible mental health support to children in under-resourced communities surrounding Cape Town.

The aim of this effectiveness study is to measure how a mental health prevention and promotion programme, designed and implemented by Little Lions Child Coaching, impacts the resilience and social/emotional functioning of children (ages 8 to 13) living in townships surrounding Cape Town.

Participants in the intervention condition will receive the programme twice a week after school for a period of six weeks to boost their emotional awareness, confidence, coping skills and resilience. Resilience scores will be compared to a control group.

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Intervention Group

Behavioural/ psychosocial intervention (i.e., mental health prevention and promotion programme) to boost emotional awareness, confidence, coping skills, and resilience.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Mental Health Prevention and Promotion

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The Inner Lion Programme is made up of 12 interactive workshops which are based on four key pillars: building confidence by identifying strengths and personal qualities; improving emotional intelligence and self-awareness; establishing adaptive coping strategies and channels of support; and boosting resilience. Professionally created by Child Psychologist Stijn de Leeuw together with an advisory team of psychologists from the Netherlands and South Africa, the programme follows a carefully structured and curated prevention and promotion mental health curriculum with games, crafting activities, psycho-educational stories, dance, movement, and breathing exercises. Workshops are led by local role models (a male-female duo) with lived experience trained to be mental health coaches.

Control Group

Participants in the control group will receive the intervention at a later stage.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Mental Health Prevention and Promotion

The Inner Lion Programme is made up of 12 interactive workshops which are based on four key pillars: building confidence by identifying strengths and personal qualities; improving emotional intelligence and self-awareness; establishing adaptive coping strategies and channels of support; and boosting resilience. Professionally created by Child Psychologist Stijn de Leeuw together with an advisory team of psychologists from the Netherlands and South Africa, the programme follows a carefully structured and curated prevention and promotion mental health curriculum with games, crafting activities, psycho-educational stories, dance, movement, and breathing exercises. Workshops are led by local role models (a male-female duo) with lived experience trained to be mental health coaches.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Inner Lion Programme

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Between 8 and 13 years old
• Fluent in Xhosa and/or English
• Lives in one of the following communities in Cape Town, South Africa: Khayelitsha, Langa, or Mfuleni

Exclusion Criteria

• Younger than 8 years old or older than 13 years old
• Do not have a strong understanding of the language of instruction (i.e., Xhosa/English)
• Lives in an area outside of Khayelitsha, Langa, or Mfuleni

• Minimum Eligible Age: 8 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 13 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Cape Town

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

King's College London

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Little Lions Child Coaching

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Susan Malcolm-Smith

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Cape Town

Locations

Neighbourgood

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Countries

South Africa

Other Identifiers

LLRCT

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id