Reducing mental health distress and preventing depression in young people in the community: A multimethod observational study with a real-world and prospective 12-month controlled approach: mental health distress in community youths

Christy Lai-Ming Hui; Eric Yu-Hai Chen; Stephanie Ming-Yin Wong; Gloria Hoi-Yan Wong; Sherry Kit-Wa Chan; Pak-Chung Sham; Michael Tak-Hing Wong; Kai-Tai Chan; Charlton Cheung; Gabriel Chun-Hei Lai; Debra Rickwood; Patrick D Mcgorry; Yi-Nam Suen

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116279

Reducing mental health distress and preventing depression in young people in the community: A multimethod observational study with a real-world and prospective 12-month controlled approach: mental health distress in community youths

Psychiatry Res. 2024 Nov 23:344:116279. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116279. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; Orygen National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁴ School of Psychology and Clinical Language Science, University of Reading, UK.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁷ headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Faculty of Health, University of Canderra, ACT, Australia.
⁸ Orygen National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia.
⁹ School of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

PMID: 39642447
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116279

Abstract

Community-based youth mental health (YMH) platforms are challenging to evaluate. Using a multi-method approach, we examined the efficacy of an integrated YMH program in Hong Kong. The real-world outcomes of 1047 participants were compared with a propensity score (PS) matched control group randomly selected from the community (study 1). In a separate prospective 12-month study, a sample of up to 133 matched pairs of YMH and controls were compared for more detailed symptomatic and functional outcomes (study 2). Study 1 revealed that the YMH program was associated with a significant reduction in distress. A higher proportion of YMH participants improved, and fewer deteriorated compared with controls. The YMH program also translated into a net reduction of 1.28 % in the risk of common disorders. Study 2 revealed that the YMH program showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, distress, and functioning after 12 months. The two complementary studies, using PS-matched controlled comparisons, enabled the sample representativeness and the comprehensive examination of the longitudinal impact. This YMH program reduces current distress, symptoms, and functional impairment, and prevents the emergence of probable mental disorder. Findings have significant implications for developing and evaluating future YMH services.

Keywords: Controlled study; Depression; Mental health; Multi-method approach; Prevention; Real-world; Youth.