Data With a Heart, Research With a Purpose

The Shamiri intervention shows that scalable psychological interventions that invoke simple psychological principles, rather than explicit references to psychopathology, can alleviate depression and anxiety symptoms in Kenyan adolescents.

Shamiri is a cost-effective method that can significantly reduce depression and anxiety. Non-expert providers can offer this effective treatment with just 10 days of training, compared to the several years required to become a licensed mental health provider.

A brief arts-literacy after-school intervention, called Pretexts, effectively reduces depression and anxiety in adolescents, promising for Sub-Saharan youth mental health.

Youth mental health interventions in low-resource communities may benefit from including empirically supported elements, using stigma-free content, and using trained lay-providers. We developed and evaluated such an intervention, targeting adolescent depression and anxiety in Kenya, where mental health care is limited by social stigma and a paucity of providers.

The violent colonial history of psychiatry in Africa prevents individuals from seeking help. Because of this history, mental health care is now stigmatized, and clinical research, practice, and policy fail to capture the salient features of distress across African communities.

The mental health treatment gap, defined as the difference between the number of people who have mental disorders and those who can access appropriate treatment, is estimated to be as high as 85% in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs), compared to only 40% in high-income countries (HICs)^1.

A Kenyan study found that brief interventions focusing on values, growth mindset, and gratitude reduced anxiety in adolescents. Particularly, the 'values' intervention was most effective. These methods could potentially extend mental health care to low-income regions' youth.

A study in Kenya trained ordinary people without mental health backgrounds to deliver a school-based program helping teenagers with anxiety and depression. The training, primarily led by undergraduates, was successful and received positive feedback, showing that this approach could be practical and effective.

Mental health issues like depression and anxiety heavily affect teenagers, especially in poorer countries. There's an urgent need for research to expand mental healthcare for young people in these areas. However, it's important to collaborate with local communities when designing treatments to ensure they are culturally appropriate.