Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Autores
Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo; Encina Zúñiga, Esteban; Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena; Fernandez, Marina Ayelen; Gabriel, Raquel; Bargamian, Jessica; Alvarado, Rubén; Morgan, Amy J; Kelly, Claire M; Reavley, Nicola
Año de publicación
2026
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Introduction: Community support for individuals with mental health problems is a global public health issue. Poor mental health literacy and high levels of stigmatising attitudes among the general population can hinder both help-seeking behaviours and limit the capacity of community members to provide support to people experiencing mental health challenges. The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training course was created to educate community members to provide initial help towards a person developing a mental health problem. MHFA training has spread to high-income countries, but there is relatively little research on cultural adaptation to lower-resource settings. This study aims to fill that gap and is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) assessing the effectiveness of MHFA training in Chile and Argentina.Methods and analysis: The study involves a two-arm wait-list cRCT with 240 participants (120 in each country). The study will be conducted in three settings in each of Chile and Argentina (eg, universities, health services and workplaces). Two clusters per setting in each country will be paired and randomly allocated to the intervention (the MHFA training for Chile and Argentina) or the wait-list control group. Participants in the intervention arm will be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline (T1), after training completion (T2) and 6 months after completion (T3), with control arm participants completing data collection at corresponding time points. The primary outcome will be intended support towards someone experiencing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Secondary outcome measures will include the ability to recognise depression and psychosis in vignettes; beliefs about the helpfulness of different types of interventions and helping actions, confidence in providing MHFA and stigmatising attitudes towards a person with depression or psychosis. Findings will demonstrate whether the culturally adapted MHFA training for Chile and Argentina can effectively enhance intended support, knowledge, attitudes and supportive actions towards other individuals within the community.Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbourne (Australia), Proyecto Suma (Argentina) and the University of Chile (Chile). Dissemination will be via academic publications and conference presentations. These will also be made available to participants and other interested parties on request.
Fil: Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Encina Zúñiga, Esteban. Universidad de Chile; Chile
Fil: Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez, Marina Ayelen. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Gabriel, Raquel. Proyecto Suma; Argentina
Fil: Bargamian, Jessica. Dartmouth College; Estados Unidos
Fil: Alvarado, Rubén. Universidad de Valparaíso; Chile
Fil: Morgan, Amy J. University of Melbourne; Australia
Fil: Kelly, Claire M. Mental Health First Aid; Australia
Fil: Reavley, Nicola. University of Melbourne; Australia
Materia
Mental Health
First Aid
cluster randomised controlled trial
effectiveness
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/289841
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/289841
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trialAgudo Agresti, Martin RicardoEncina Zúñiga, EstebanArdila Gómez, Sara ElenaFernandez, Marina AyelenGabriel, RaquelBargamian, JessicaAlvarado, RubénMorgan, Amy JKelly, Claire MReavley, NicolaMental HealthFirst Aidcluster randomised controlled trialeffectivenesshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.3https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3Introduction: Community support for individuals with mental health problems is a global public health issue. Poor mental health literacy and high levels of stigmatising attitudes among the general population can hinder both help-seeking behaviours and limit the capacity of community members to provide support to people experiencing mental health challenges. The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training course was created to educate community members to provide initial help towards a person developing a mental health problem. MHFA training has spread to high-income countries, but there is relatively little research on cultural adaptation to lower-resource settings. This study aims to fill that gap and is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) assessing the effectiveness of MHFA training in Chile and Argentina.Methods and analysis: The study involves a two-arm wait-list cRCT with 240 participants (120 in each country). The study will be conducted in three settings in each of Chile and Argentina (eg, universities, health services and workplaces). Two clusters per setting in each country will be paired and randomly allocated to the intervention (the MHFA training for Chile and Argentina) or the wait-list control group. Participants in the intervention arm will be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline (T1), after training completion (T2) and 6 months after completion (T3), with control arm participants completing data collection at corresponding time points. The primary outcome will be intended support towards someone experiencing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Secondary outcome measures will include the ability to recognise depression and psychosis in vignettes; beliefs about the helpfulness of different types of interventions and helping actions, confidence in providing MHFA and stigmatising attitudes towards a person with depression or psychosis. Findings will demonstrate whether the culturally adapted MHFA training for Chile and Argentina can effectively enhance intended support, knowledge, attitudes and supportive actions towards other individuals within the community.Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbourne (Australia), Proyecto Suma (Argentina) and the University of Chile (Chile). Dissemination will be via academic publications and conference presentations. These will also be made available to participants and other interested parties on request.Fil: Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Encina Zúñiga, Esteban. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Marina Ayelen. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gabriel, Raquel. Proyecto Suma; ArgentinaFil: Bargamian, Jessica. Dartmouth College; Estados UnidosFil: Alvarado, Rubén. Universidad de Valparaíso; ChileFil: Morgan, Amy J. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: Kelly, Claire M. Mental Health First Aid; AustraliaFil: Reavley, Nicola. University of Melbourne; AustraliaBMJ Group2026-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/289841Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo; Encina Zúñiga, Esteban; Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena; Fernandez, Marina Ayelen; Gabriel, Raquel; et al.; Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial; BMJ Group; BMJ Open; 16; 2; 2-2026; 1-102044-60552044-6055CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105308info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105308info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2026-08-25T15:28:06Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/289841instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982026-08-25 15:28:06.59CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
title Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
spellingShingle Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo
Mental Health
First Aid
cluster randomised controlled trial
effectiveness
title_short Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
title_full Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
title_fullStr Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
title_sort Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo
Encina Zúñiga, Esteban
Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena
Fernandez, Marina Ayelen
Gabriel, Raquel
Bargamian, Jessica
Alvarado, Rubén
Morgan, Amy J
Kelly, Claire M
Reavley, Nicola
author Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo
author_facet Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo
Encina Zúñiga, Esteban
Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena
Fernandez, Marina Ayelen
Gabriel, Raquel
Bargamian, Jessica
Alvarado, Rubén
Morgan, Amy J
Kelly, Claire M
Reavley, Nicola
author_role author
author2 Encina Zúñiga, Esteban
Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena
Fernandez, Marina Ayelen
Gabriel, Raquel
Bargamian, Jessica
Alvarado, Rubén
Morgan, Amy J
Kelly, Claire M
Reavley, Nicola
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Mental Health
First Aid
cluster randomised controlled trial
effectiveness
topic Mental Health
First Aid
cluster randomised controlled trial
effectiveness
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.3
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Introduction: Community support for individuals with mental health problems is a global public health issue. Poor mental health literacy and high levels of stigmatising attitudes among the general population can hinder both help-seeking behaviours and limit the capacity of community members to provide support to people experiencing mental health challenges. The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training course was created to educate community members to provide initial help towards a person developing a mental health problem. MHFA training has spread to high-income countries, but there is relatively little research on cultural adaptation to lower-resource settings. This study aims to fill that gap and is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) assessing the effectiveness of MHFA training in Chile and Argentina.Methods and analysis: The study involves a two-arm wait-list cRCT with 240 participants (120 in each country). The study will be conducted in three settings in each of Chile and Argentina (eg, universities, health services and workplaces). Two clusters per setting in each country will be paired and randomly allocated to the intervention (the MHFA training for Chile and Argentina) or the wait-list control group. Participants in the intervention arm will be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline (T1), after training completion (T2) and 6 months after completion (T3), with control arm participants completing data collection at corresponding time points. The primary outcome will be intended support towards someone experiencing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Secondary outcome measures will include the ability to recognise depression and psychosis in vignettes; beliefs about the helpfulness of different types of interventions and helping actions, confidence in providing MHFA and stigmatising attitudes towards a person with depression or psychosis. Findings will demonstrate whether the culturally adapted MHFA training for Chile and Argentina can effectively enhance intended support, knowledge, attitudes and supportive actions towards other individuals within the community.Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbourne (Australia), Proyecto Suma (Argentina) and the University of Chile (Chile). Dissemination will be via academic publications and conference presentations. These will also be made available to participants and other interested parties on request.
Fil: Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Encina Zúñiga, Esteban. Universidad de Chile; Chile
Fil: Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez, Marina Ayelen. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Gabriel, Raquel. Proyecto Suma; Argentina
Fil: Bargamian, Jessica. Dartmouth College; Estados Unidos
Fil: Alvarado, Rubén. Universidad de Valparaíso; Chile
Fil: Morgan, Amy J. University of Melbourne; Australia
Fil: Kelly, Claire M. Mental Health First Aid; Australia
Fil: Reavley, Nicola. University of Melbourne; Australia
description Introduction: Community support for individuals with mental health problems is a global public health issue. Poor mental health literacy and high levels of stigmatising attitudes among the general population can hinder both help-seeking behaviours and limit the capacity of community members to provide support to people experiencing mental health challenges. The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training course was created to educate community members to provide initial help towards a person developing a mental health problem. MHFA training has spread to high-income countries, but there is relatively little research on cultural adaptation to lower-resource settings. This study aims to fill that gap and is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) assessing the effectiveness of MHFA training in Chile and Argentina.Methods and analysis: The study involves a two-arm wait-list cRCT with 240 participants (120 in each country). The study will be conducted in three settings in each of Chile and Argentina (eg, universities, health services and workplaces). Two clusters per setting in each country will be paired and randomly allocated to the intervention (the MHFA training for Chile and Argentina) or the wait-list control group. Participants in the intervention arm will be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline (T1), after training completion (T2) and 6 months after completion (T3), with control arm participants completing data collection at corresponding time points. The primary outcome will be intended support towards someone experiencing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Secondary outcome measures will include the ability to recognise depression and psychosis in vignettes; beliefs about the helpfulness of different types of interventions and helping actions, confidence in providing MHFA and stigmatising attitudes towards a person with depression or psychosis. Findings will demonstrate whether the culturally adapted MHFA training for Chile and Argentina can effectively enhance intended support, knowledge, attitudes and supportive actions towards other individuals within the community.Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbourne (Australia), Proyecto Suma (Argentina) and the University of Chile (Chile). Dissemination will be via academic publications and conference presentations. These will also be made available to participants and other interested parties on request.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/289841
Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo; Encina Zúñiga, Esteban; Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena; Fernandez, Marina Ayelen; Gabriel, Raquel; et al.; Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial; BMJ Group; BMJ Open; 16; 2; 2-2026; 1-10
2044-6055
2044-6055
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/289841
identifier_str_mv Agudo Agresti, Martin Ricardo; Encina Zúñiga, Esteban; Ardila Gómez, Sara Elena; Fernandez, Marina Ayelen; Gabriel, Raquel; et al.; Mental Health First Aid training for Chile and Argentina: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial; BMJ Group; BMJ Open; 16; 2; 2-2026; 1-10
2044-6055
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105308
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105308
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv BMJ Group
publisher.none.fl_str_mv BMJ Group
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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score 13.24418

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