Promoting mental health and well-being in schools: examining mindfulness, relaxation and strategies for safety and well-being in English primary and secondary schools-study protocol for a multi-school, cluster randomised controlled trial (INSPIRE).

There are increasing rates of internalising difficulties, particularly anxiety and depression, being reported in children and young people in England. School-based universal prevention programmes are thought to be one way of helping tackle such difficulties. This paper describes an update to a four-arm cluster randomised controlled trial ( http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN16386254 ), investigating the effectiveness of three different interventions when compared to usual provision, in English primary and secondary pupils. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial was put on hold and subsequently prolonged. Data collection will now run until 2024. The key changes to the trial outlined here include clarification of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, an amended timeline reflecting changes to the recruitment period of the trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic and clarification of the data that will be included in the statistical analysis, since the second wave of the trial was disrupted due to COVID-19.Trial registration ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN16386254. Registered on 30 August 2018.

COVID-19 in Brazil: Opportunity to integrate mental health in the Programa Bolsa Familia

According to the World Health Organization, Brazil ranks third in COVID-19 cases and second in deaths globally. The most severely impacted by this shock are the approximately 10 million Brazilians that live in extreme poverty. This vulnerability is evident in youth, financially, and in their well-being and mental health. Like other cash transfer programmes globally, the Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) is currently being adapted to support individuals and families during the pandemic. The current environment offers a unique opportunity for PBF to focus on young people and tackle poverty from a broader perspective. The PBF can expand its scope to address the longer-term mental health impacts of economic crises and poverty, besides addressing urgent food security and survival needs. This approach could enhance youth's future life chances and break the vicious cycle between mental illness and poverty that spirals many young people into socioeconomic and mental health disadvantages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Portuguese) Segundo a Organizacao Mundial da Saude (OMS), o Brasil e o terceiro pais do mundo com mais casos de COVID-19 e o segundo em numero de mortes. Os mais afetados sao os cerca de dez milhoes de brasileiros vivendo na linha da pobreza. Essa vulnerabilidade e mais visivel entre os jovens, tanto economicamente quanto em relacao a saude mental. Junto a outros programas de transferencia de renda, o Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) foi adaptado para melhor contribuir durante a pandemia. Esse contexto oferece uma oportunidade unica para que o PBF foque em jovens e aborde a pobreza de forma mais ampla. Alem de cobrir as necessidades basicas, o PBF poderia ampliar seu alcance visando a impactos economicos e de saude mental de longo prazo. Esse enfoque poderia melhorar as oportunidades de vida de jovens e romper o ciclo vicioso entre problemas de saude mental e pobreza que os mantem em situacao de vulnerabilidade social. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) Segun la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS), Brasil es el tercer pais en casos de COVID-19 y el segundo en muertes mundialmente. Los mas afectados son los cerca de diez millones de brasilenos viviendo en pobreza extrema. Esa vulnerabilidad es particularmente visible en los jovenes, tanto economicamente como en relacion con la salud mental. Junto de otros programas de transferencia de efectivo a nivel mundial, el Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) se esta adaptando para ayudar durante la pandemia. Ese contexto ofrece una oportunidad unica para que el PBF se centre en los jovenes y aborde la pobreza mas ampliamente. Ademas de cubrir necesidades basicas, el PBF puede ampliar su alcance atajando los impactos a largo plazo de pandemias y crisis economicas en salud mental. Este enfoque podria mejorar las oportunidades de vida de los jovenes y romper el circulo vicioso de enfermedad mental y pobreza que les conduce a una situacion de desventaja. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Effective/cost effective interventions of child mental health problems in low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC): Systematic review.

BACKGROUND: This systematic review protocol aims to examine the evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions for children and adolescents with, or at risk of developing mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). METHODS: We will search Medline Ovid, EMBASE Ovid, PsycINFO Ovid, CINAHL, LILACS, BDENF and IBECS. We will include randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, economic modelling studies and economic evaluations. Participants are 6 to 18 year-old children and adolescents who live in a LAMIC and who present with, or are at high risk of developing, one or more of the conditions: depression, anxiety, behavioural disorders, eating disorders, psychosis, substance abuse, autism and intellectual disabilities as defined by the DSM-V. Interventions which address suicide, self-harm will also be included, if identified during the extraction process. We will include in person or e-health interventions which have some evidence of effectiveness (in relation to clinical and/or functional outcomes) and which have been delivered to young people in LAMICs. We will consider a wide range of delivery channels (e.g., in person, web-based or virtual, phone), different practitioners (healthcare practitioners, teachers, lay health care providers) and sectors (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary health care, education, guardianship councils). In the pilot of screening procedures, 5% of all references will be screened by two reviewers. Divergences will be resolved by one expert in mental health research. Reviewers will be retrained afterwards to ensure reliability. The remaining 95% will be screened by one reviewer. Covidence web-based tool will be used to perform screening of references and full text paper, and data extraction. RESULTS: The protocol of this systematic review will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences. The results will be presented descriptively and, if possible, meta-analysis will be conducted. Ethical approval is not needed for anonymised secondary data. CONCLUSION: the systematic review could help health specialists and other professionals to identify evidence-based strategies to deal with child and adolescents with mental health conditions.

Integrating youth mental health into cash transfer programmes in response to the COVID-19 crisis in low-income and middle-income countries.

Social protection measures can play an important part in securing livelihoods and in mitigating short-term and long-term economic, social, and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, cash transfer programmes are currently being adapted or expanded in various low-income and middle-income countries to support individuals and families during the pandemic. We argue that the current crisis offers an opportunity for these programmes to focus on susceptible young people (aged 15-24 years), including those with mental health conditions. Young people living in poverty and with mental health problems are at particular risk of experiencing adverse health, wellbeing, and employment outcomes with long-term consequences. They are also at risk of developing mental health conditions during this pandemic. To support this population, cash transfer programmes should not only address urgent needs around food security and survival but expand their focus to address longer-term mental health impacts of pandemics and economic crises. Such an approach could help support young people's future life chances and break the vicious cycle between mental illness and poverty that spirals many young people into both socioeconomic and mental health disadvantage.