Sports-based Mental heAlth pRomotion intervention for adolescenTs in Nepal (SMART)

Background:

Each year, one in five adolescents aged 10-19 experiences a mental disorder like depression or anxiety, and the rate is rising. Nepal is a low-income country where there is a large population of adolescents at risk of mental disorders, but a lack of mental health care. An intervention is needed that can protect adolescents from mental disorders, is accessible to all adolescents, and is cheap and easy to sustain. One such intervention is mental health promotion, which focuses on improving positive behaviors and characteristics that protect mental health.

Mental health promotion interventions that improve mental wellbeing, self-efficacy, self-esteem and emotion regulation, are effective in improving adolescent mental health in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). They could also be more cost-effective than treatment approaches. This project aims to develop a mental health promotion intervention that uses sport to promote mental health among adolescents aged 12-19 in Nepal. This type of intervention was selected because there is evidence that sport improves mental health, adolescent participation in sports is supported by Nepalese and global policy, and because of the potential scale and reach through a national network of sports clubs.

Objectives: To develop and test the feasibility of an adolescent mental health promotion intervention that uses sport as a platform to promote mental wellbeing, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and emotion regulation.

Target group: Adolescents aged 12 to 19 years

Implementation area: Madhuwan Municipality, Bardiya

Time frame: 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2023

Supported by: Medical Research Council

Partners: Kings College London, University College London