Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Background Mental health problems are the leading cause of disease burden among young people in India. While evidence shows that youth mental health and resilience can be improved with group interventions in school settings, such an intervention has not been robustly evaluated in informal urban sett...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Global Health Action |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2455236 |
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| author | Varadharajan Srinivasan Miguel San Sebastián Samson Rana Pooja Bhatt Greg Armstrong Smita Deshpande Kaaren Mathias |
| author_facet | Varadharajan Srinivasan Miguel San Sebastián Samson Rana Pooja Bhatt Greg Armstrong Smita Deshpande Kaaren Mathias |
| author_sort | Varadharajan Srinivasan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Mental health problems are the leading cause of disease burden among young people in India. While evidence shows that youth mental health and resilience can be improved with group interventions in school settings, such an intervention has not been robustly evaluated in informal urban settings. Objective This study aimed to evaluate whether the Nae Disha 3 group intervention could improve youth resilience, mental health and gender equal attitudes among disadvantaged young people from low-income urban communities in India. Methods This cluster randomised controlled trial used an analytic sample of 476 adolescents and young adults aged 11–25 years from randomised clusters in urban Dehradun, India. The 251 intervention group participants were 112 boys and 139 girls, and the 225 young people in the wait-control group were 101 boys and 124 girls. Five validated tools measuring resilience gender equity and mental health were filled by participants at three different points in time. Results Difference in difference (DiD) analysis at T2 showed that scores improved among girls in intervention group, for adjusted model, resilience (DiD = 4.12; 95% CI: 2.14, 6.09) and among boys, for resilience (DiD = 5.82; 95% CI: 1.57, 9.74). Conclusions The Nae Disha 3 intervention among disadvantaged urban youth moderately improved resilience for both young men and women, though it did not significantly impact mental health, self-efficacy, or gender-equal attitudes. We establish potential merit for this approach to youth mental health but recommend further research to examine active ingredients and the ideal duration of such group interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e5deb9544d6a4a58b28d20050dc24efb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1654-9880 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Health Action |
| spelling | doaj-art-e5deb9544d6a4a58b28d20050dc24efb2025-02-05T12:46:15ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Health Action1654-98802025-12-0118110.1080/16549716.2025.24552362455236Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trialVaradharajan Srinivasan0Miguel San Sebastián1Samson Rana2Pooja Bhatt3Greg Armstrong4Smita Deshpande5Kaaren Mathias6Herbertpur Christian Hospital (Emmanuel Hospital Association)Umeå UniversityHerbertpur Christian Hospital (Emmanuel Hospital Association)Herbertpur Christian Hospital (Emmanuel Hospital Association)The University of MelbourneCentre of Excellence in Mental Health, ABVIMS - Dr RML Hospital, New Delhi, IndiaHerbertpur Christian Hospital (Emmanuel Hospital Association)Background Mental health problems are the leading cause of disease burden among young people in India. While evidence shows that youth mental health and resilience can be improved with group interventions in school settings, such an intervention has not been robustly evaluated in informal urban settings. Objective This study aimed to evaluate whether the Nae Disha 3 group intervention could improve youth resilience, mental health and gender equal attitudes among disadvantaged young people from low-income urban communities in India. Methods This cluster randomised controlled trial used an analytic sample of 476 adolescents and young adults aged 11–25 years from randomised clusters in urban Dehradun, India. The 251 intervention group participants were 112 boys and 139 girls, and the 225 young people in the wait-control group were 101 boys and 124 girls. Five validated tools measuring resilience gender equity and mental health were filled by participants at three different points in time. Results Difference in difference (DiD) analysis at T2 showed that scores improved among girls in intervention group, for adjusted model, resilience (DiD = 4.12; 95% CI: 2.14, 6.09) and among boys, for resilience (DiD = 5.82; 95% CI: 1.57, 9.74). Conclusions The Nae Disha 3 intervention among disadvantaged urban youth moderately improved resilience for both young men and women, though it did not significantly impact mental health, self-efficacy, or gender-equal attitudes. We establish potential merit for this approach to youth mental health but recommend further research to examine active ingredients and the ideal duration of such group interventions.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2455236youthmentalinterventionresilienceindia |
| spellingShingle | Varadharajan Srinivasan Miguel San Sebastián Samson Rana Pooja Bhatt Greg Armstrong Smita Deshpande Kaaren Mathias Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial Global Health Action youth mental intervention resilience india |
| title | Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| title_full | Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| title_short | Effectiveness of a resilience, gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in North India: a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| title_sort | effectiveness of a resilience gender equity and mental health group intervention for young people living in informal urban communities in north india a cluster randomized controlled trial |
| topic | youth mental intervention resilience india |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2455236 |
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