title: Addressing mental health stigma among young adolescents: evaluation of a youth-led approach.
abstract: Stigma around mental illness puts adolescents at risk for not seeking help for themselves or helping peers dealing with mental distress. This program evaluation looks at a youth-led mental health awareness promotion campaign, in which high school students led educational workshops for at-risk middle school students in an after-school program. Pre- and posttests were used to measure knowledge about mental illness as well as social distance; a total of 57 pre- and posttests were analyzed. Analyses revealed statistically significant changes in both the Knowledge and Social Distance scales. The results suggest that salutary results can be realized as a result of very brief intervention with youths around the topic of mental health awareness.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bulanda
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bruhn
authors.forename: Trisha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Byro-Johnson
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zentmyer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D057545:Social Stigma; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires