The effects of a mental health literacy promoting program combined with a mental health literacy (MHL) board game to prevent depression in high school students in Nakhon Sawan Province
Keywords:
board game, mental health literacy, depressionAbstract
Depression is an alteration in mental state, characterized by feelings of sadness, despair, and a loss of pleasure. It significantly impacts daily life and interpersonal relationships. This quasi-experimental study aimed at examining the effects of a mental health literacy promoting program combined with a Mental Health Literacy (MHL) board game to prevent depression in high school students in Nakhon Sawan Province. Participants were 54 upper secondary students in Nakhon Sawan Province, divided into experimental and comparison groups (27 each). The 10-week intervention included six activities focused on Mental Health Literacy promotion, such as symptom recognition and prevention; combined with learning through a specially designed MHL board game. Data were collected using a validated mental health literacy questionnaire, verified by three school psychology experts (IOC>0.5). Independent t-test and paired t-test statistics were used to analyze the data.
The results revealed that after participating in the activities, the experimental group showed higher levels of mental health literacy in terms of knowledge and attitudes conducive to acceptance and seeking appropriate help compared to before the intervention. However, when comparing post-intervention depression scores between groups, it was found that the experimental group exhibited higher average depression scores than the comparison group.
Conclusion: The mental health literacy promoting program combined with the Mental Health Literacy (MHL) board game can enhance high school students' mental health literacy, both in terms of knowledge and attitudes conducive to acceptance and seeking appropriate help.
References
Danthaiwattana S. Adolescent depression and the role of teacher. Health Sci J Nakhon Ratchasima Coll [Internet]. 2023 Jan 14 [cited 2024 Mar 1]];1(2):54-6. Available from: https://he03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jhsnmc/article/view/604. (in Thai)
World Health Organization. Depressive disorder (depression) [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; [cited 2024 Mar 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/depression
Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University. Depression… at risk of becoming major depressive disorder! [Internet]. Bangkok: Mahidol University; 2025 [cited 2025 Mar 16]. Available from: https://www.rama.mahidol.ac.th/ramachannel/ondemand/ภาวะซึมเศร้า-เสี่ยงเป็น/ (in Thai)
Cleveland Clinic. Adolescent development [Internet]. Ohio: Cleveland Clinic;2023 [cited 2024 Mar 3]. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/7060-adolescent-development
Reinert M, Fritze D, Nguyen T. The state of mental health in America 2023 [Internet]. Alexandria (VA): Mental Health America; 2022 [cited 2022 Oct 23]. Available from: https://archive.hshsl.umaryland.edu/entities/publication/9d5f259d-ae41-476e-8484-ecafd1ca8401
UNICEF. COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive poor mental health among children and young people: UNICEF and department of mental health caution on world mental health day [Internet]. Bangkok: UNICEF; 2021 Oct 8 [cited 2023 Jul 3]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/thailand/ th/press-releases/ยูนิเซฟและกรมสุขภาพจิตชี้โควิด-19. (in Thai)
Lerksirinukul P. An in-depth analysis of the research on “The future of Thailand’s sociomental health in 2033”: preparing for “an explosion of fear” and “isolation” [Internet]. Bangkok: Techsauce; 2023 Mar 3 [cited 2023 Jul 3]. Available from: https://techsauce.co/report/futures-of-mental-health-in-thailand-2033. (in Thai)
Department of Mental Health. Department of Mental Health [Internet]. Nonthaburi: Department of Mental Health; 2023 [cited 2023 Mar 7]. Available from: https://dmh.go.th/news/view.asp?id=2503 (in Thai)
Mental Health Center Region 3. Annual report 2023 [Internet]. Nonthaburi: Mental Health Center Region 3; 2023 [cited 2023 Mar 7]. Available from: https://mhc3.dmh.go.th/ITA2567/O12/รายงานผลการดำเนินงานศูนย์สุขภาพจิตที่3ประจำปี2567.pdf (in Thai)
Mental Health Center Region 3. Annual report 2024 [Internet]. Nonthaburi: Department of Mental Health; 2024 [cited 2023 Mar 7]. Available from: https://mhc3.dmh.go.th/2568/รูปเล่มประจำปี2567.pdf (in Thai)
Namdej N, Phongsakcha P, Sangournpak O. Mental health literacy among senior high school students in Saraburi Province. J Nurs Educ 2018;11(3):125-38. Available from: https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JNAE/article/view/152685/111373 (in Thai)
Sriwichai N, Kuwiwatchai M. Students and their mental health literacy. J Soc Work Soc Adm 2021;29(2):37-65. Available from: https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/swjournal/article/download/251125/173627/937732 (in Thai)
Jorm AF. Mental health literacy: public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders. Br J Psychiatry 2000;177:396-401. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.177.5.396
Sombat K, Sombat L. Social work and social welfare: unlook social inequality towards sustainability [Internet]. Anyflip; 2019 [cited 2023 Dec 7]. Available from: https://anyflip.com/bookcase/hunkx (in Thai)
Ojio Y, Yonehara H, Taneichi S, Yamasaki S, Ando S, Togo F, et al. Effects of schoolbased mental health literacy education for secondary school students to be delivered by school teachers: a preliminary study. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2015;69(9):572–9.Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12320
Perry Y, Petrie K, Buckley H, Cavanagh L, Clarke D, Winslade M, et al. Effects of a classroom-based educational resource on adolescent mental health literacy: a cluster randomized controlled trial. J Adolesc 2014;37(7):1143–51. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.08.001
Makassawad R. Factors influencing depression among high school students in Pathum Thani Province. RHPC9J 2021;15(38):528-40. Available from: https://he02.tcithaijo.org/index.php/RHPC9Journal/article/view/251406 (in Thai)
Uratanamnee S, Lerdsamran S. Stress, anxiety and depression of high school teenagers in preparation for university admission. J Psychiatr Nurs Ment Health 2021;15(38):528-40. Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JPNMH/article/view/105144 (in Thai)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Nursing Science and Health
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Journal of Nursing Science and Health is copyright holder of published articles. Distributions of articles published in Journal of Nursing Science and Health including online, photocopying which is not for teaching-learning purpose, publication submission elsewhere are prohibited except obtaining permission from the Journal of Nursing Science and Health.
