Effects of Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) on South Asian American Adults Working With South Asian American Youth

NCT07135479 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: 1366194
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 250
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to adapt the Youth Mental Health First Aid training to better meet the needs of South Asian American adults who support South Asian American youth. Focus groups will help identify what changes are needed. Based on that input, the training will be updated and then tested to see how well it helps adults improve their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward mental health and supporting the mental health of South Asian American youth.

Conditions

Waitlist Control; Experimental

Keywords

Youth Mental Health First Aid; South Asian American adults; South Asian American youth; South Asian American mental health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (7)

• Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS)

  The Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) is a 35-item tool that assesses knowledge across a variety of domains related to mental health, including attitudes toward mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Items 1 to 10 and 13 to 15 are rated on a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 4 (very likely). Items 11 to 12 are rated on 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unhelpful) to 4 (very helpful). Additionally, items 16 to 28 are rated on 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with items 29 to 35 also rated on 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (definitely unwilling) to 4 (definitely willing). Overall, higher total scores indicate greater mental health literacy (better outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Confidence in Helping Skills

  The "Confidence in Helping Skills" 5-item measure will assess adults' confidence in applying the ALGEE steps (part of YMHFA training). Participants will indicate their level of agreement with each statement on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Overall, higher scores indicate higher confidence in applying the ALGEE steps (better outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Intentions to engage in Mental Health First Aid behaviors

  Participants' intentions to engage in ALGEE will be measured using responses to two vignettes featuring a youth with depression and another with schizophrenia. The responses will be coded using a checklist that scores each ALGEE action step using a 3-point scale from 0 (no mention or inadequate response) to 2 (specific details/actions). Overall, higher scores indicate greater intentions to engage in ALGEE (better outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Mental Health Service Use (MHSU)

  The Mental Health Service Use (MHSU) questionnaire will assess participants' utilization of mental health services within the past month, gauging the frequency of accessing these services for themselves and/or a family member. This scale consists of 9 items on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 0 days accessing services to more than 10 days accessing services. Overall, the higher the score, the more services that have been accessed by participants (better outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Engagement in MHFA behaviors (ALGEE)

  Engagement in actual MHFA behaviors (ALGEE) will be assessed through participants rating the frequency of their engagement in each ALGEE behavior on a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 4 (many times). Overall, higher the score indicates participants have engaged in ALGEE behaviors more often (better outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21)

  Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) consists of 21 items across three subscales that measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants rate the extent to which they experienced these symptoms over the past week on a scale from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). Overall, higher the score indicates greater symptom severity for participants (worse outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

• Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE v3)

  The Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE v3) will assess barriers to mental health service utilization. The 30-item measure examines three categories of barriers; however, this study will focus on two categories of barriers (22 items): (1) stigma-related barriers and (2) attitudinal barriers. Each item represents a specific barrier that may have prevented, delayed, or discouraged individuals from seeking professional mental health care. Responses are rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (a lot), with six items including an additional "not applicable" option. Overall, higher scores indicate the more barriers participants faced that may have prevented, delayed, or discouraged them from seeking professional mental health care (worse outcome).

  From enrollment to before participating in the YMHFA training and one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Acceptability

  This will only be collected one month after participating in the YMHFA training.

Study Arms (2)

Experimental Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Other: Youth Mental Health First Aid

Waitlist Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Other: Youth Mental Health First Aid

Interventions

Youth Mental Health First Aid OTHER

This Youth Mental Health First Aid training has been adapted for South Asian American adults working with South Asian American youth. This training is a full-day, 5.25 hour blended course (some self-paced work and some live, virtual participation).

Experimental Group; Waitlist Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• South Asian American adults (18+) working with South Asian American youth (between 8-18 years old)
• Have not taken and completed YMHFA training before

You may not qualify if:

• Identify outside of being a South Asian American adult (18+)
• Have taken and completed YMHFA training before
• Mental health professionals/those with a mental health background

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Maryland, College Park: lead

Study Sites (1)

UMD College of Education

College Park, Maryland, 20742, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Cixin Wang, Ph.D.

  University of Maryland, College Park

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 11, 2025
• First Posted: August 22, 2025
• Study Start: June 24, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 25, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 25, 2027
• Last Updated: April 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)