School-Based Mental Health Interventions and Adolescent Anxiety Levels in South African Townships: A Six-Month Evaluation Study

Adolescent anxiety disorders are prevalent in South African townships, where access to mental health services is limited. A longitudinal study design was employed with pre- and post-intervention assessments, including standardised measures for anxiety symptoms (e.g., GAD-7). Anxiety levels decreased by 15% among participants who received the intervention compared to a control group, with significant reductions in depressive symptoms as well. The school-based mental health intervention demonstrated efficacy in reducing adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms over six months, providing promising results for future implementation. Further research should explore long-term effects and potential cost-effectiveness of such interventions. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.