Literacia em saúde mental e o papel do género

: follow-up do projecto Abrir Espaço à Saúde Mental

Abstract

Adolescence is a crucial period to promote mental health and psychological well-being (Graham & Power, 2004), this is a period characterized by exposure to stress and risk, that can potentially lead to the development of mental health problems (Schulze, Richter-phase Werling, Mastschinger & Angermeyer, 2003). Promoting mental health literacy and fighting stigma should be done as soon early as possible, since early ages are more likely to learning and change, and the attitudes can be changed easier (Corrigan & Watson, 2007; Hinshaw, 2005; Jorm, 2000). This study is part of the project "Abrir Espaço à Saúde Mental", and its aim is to assess the impact of a school-based intervention to promote mental health literacy. The sample consisted of 160 youths who participated in the intervention sessions, aged between 11 and 15 years old, attending the 7th, 8th and 9th grade, from six public, and two private schools, in the North of Portugal. Data collection was conducted through LSMq – A questionnaire on Mental Health Literacy (Campos & Dias, 2014; Campos, Palha, Dias, Veiga, & Duarte, 2012), which was applied to participants one week before (pre-test), one week after (post-test) and six months after the intervention (follow-up). The main results have shown a significant increase in the level of mental health literacy of the youth, between the pre-intervention moment and post-intervention moments, however the obtained results didn’t maintain six months after intervention. This study reinforces the need to develop interventions to promote mental health literacy amongst youth and to provide an assessment of the impact of these interventions that monitor every stage of the project.

Date of Award	25 Jul 2014
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Luísa Campos (Supervisor)