Mental Health Literacy and Academic Performance

A Randomized Clinical Trial was designed, involving comparisons at three time-points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up) between: (a) Automated delivery of the intervention, (b) Blended format of the intervention, (c) Waitlist (matched control group). Participants will be randomly allocated to one of these three arms, with randomization done at the classroom level. Appropriate methods for two-level-designs were used to determine sample size requirements for a cRCT with 4 cluster groups (i.e. classrooms) per experimental condition, 22 participants per cluster. For a linear mixed-effects model, a sample size of approximately 88 participants per experimental condition for a total sample size of 264 was sufficient to achieve 80% power to detect an effect size of Cohen's d = 0.4 at an alpha level of 0.05. Mental health symptomatology (screening items, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, social anxiety, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), eating disorders), adverse childhood experiences, bullying, social support, mental health stigma, help-seeking, social media engagement, digital addiction, and academic performance will be assessed.