African Journal of Addiction Medicine | 19 May 2010
School-Based Mental Health Intervention for Anxiety Disorders Among Nigerian Adolescents: A Quasi-Experimental Study
T, a, i, w, o, A, d, e, y, e, m, i, ,, O, l, a, y, i, w, o, l, a, O, g, u, n, l, e, y, e, ,, B, a, l, o, g, u, n, O, l, u, d, a, m, a, s, a
Abstract
Anxiety disorders among Nigerian adolescents are prevalent but often underdiagnosed and undertreated. There is a need for effective school-based mental health interventions to address this issue. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 20 schools randomly selected from urban and rural areas. Participants were assessed using validated standardised questionnaires at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2), and follow-up (T3). Significant reductions in anxiety symptoms were observed between T1 and T2 among participants, with a mean reduction of 25% (95% CI: [18%, 32%]) on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The school-based mental health intervention demonstrated promise in improving emotional well-being and reducing anxiety symptoms among Nigerian adolescents. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore long-term effects. Policy makers should consider integrating evidence-based school-based interventions into existing educational frameworks, with a focus on underserved urban and rural areas of Nigeria. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p<em>i)=\beta</em>0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.