Mixed methods evaluation of MindSKILLZ Magazine among adolescents and young people in Zambia

DETAILED SUMMARY

Importance

• Adolescents and young people in Zambia face a critical gap in mental health education. Grassroot Soccer developed the MindSKILLZ Magazine, a take-home comic resource, to fill this gap and engage families in positive mental health promotion as part of the IREX-USAID funded Youth Excel project.

Objective

• To evaluate the feasibility of engaging teachers and facility caregivers as co-distributors of the MindSKILLZ Magazine alongside Grassroot Soccer Coaches, and to assess early effectiveness of the magazine as a mental health promotion tool among adolescents and young people in Lusaka and Chipata, Zambia, from March to October 2023.

Study details

• Study design: Mixed methods study; no control group.
• Data collection tools: Pre- and post-test questionnaires; in-depth interviews; key informant interviews with teachers and caregivers; focus group discussions with adolescents and Coaches.
• Participants: Mixed-gender adolescents and young people aged 10–24 years, including youth living with HIV and adolescent girls and young women; teachers; caregivers; Coaches.
• Implementation setting: Schools and health facilities in Lusaka (urban) and Chipata, Sinda, Petauke, and Katete districts, Eastern Province (rural), Zambia.
• Study period: March–October 2023.

Intervention

• MindSKILLZ Magazine: A take-home, comic-style resource on mental health distributed to adolescents and young people through group- and home-based sessions, delivered either by Grassroot Soccer Coaches alone or in co-distribution with teachers and health facility caregivers.

Results

• Sample: 234 adolescents and young people received the pre-test; 231 completed matched pre- and post-tests. Twenty-two in-depth interviews, ten key informant interviews with teachers and caregivers, and nine focus group discussions were also conducted.
• Mental health attitudes improved from 74% to 93%, and mental health knowledge improved from 86% to 96%, following engagement with the magazine.
• Adolescents with prior exposure to SKILLZ Health programming showed greater gains (83% to 92%) than non-SKILLZ participants (79% to 88%), with SKILLZ Plus participants showing the largest improvement (76% to 93%).
• Individual, home-based distribution outperformed group-based distribution (76% to 93% vs. 86% to 91%).
• Co-distribution with teachers and caregivers was viewed as feasible and complementary to Coaches’ roles, though challenges included transportation costs, scheduling difficulties, and inconsistent caregiver engagement.

Conclusions and implications

• Early results suggest that the MindSKILLZ Magazine shows signs of effectiveness in improving mental health knowledge and attitudes among adolescents and young people, particularly those with prior SKILLZ Health exposure and those reached through individual, home-based delivery.
• Findings provide preliminary support for integrating mental health content into existing SKILLZ curricula, strengthening home visits as an entry point for distribution, and building partnerships with schools and health facilities to scale co-distribution sustainably.