Urban youth centers in South Africa have implemented mental health stigma reduction campaigns to address the stigmatization of mental illness among young people. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using data from multiple studies published in academic journals. The analysis employed a random-effects model with robust standard errors to account for heterogeneity across studies. Among the reviewed studies, an average of 65% of urban youth centers reported adopting at least one peer support programme within their mental health stigma reduction campaigns. The meta-analysis indicates that while adoption rates were generally high, there was significant variability in the implementation and outcomes of peer support programmes across different centers. Future research should focus on understanding the specific factors influencing the successful adoption and sustainability of these programmes to improve mental health services for urban youth. Treatment effect was estimated with logit (pᵢ) =₀+^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.
Mogarewa et al. (Mon,) studied this question.