Adolescent Mental Health Self-Care Programmes in Southern Nigeria Urban Schools: Knowledge Gains and Attitude Shifts

Adolescent mental health issues are prevalent in urban schools across Nigeria, necessitating effective self-care programmes. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including preand post-test assessments to measure changes in knowledge, and surveys to gauge attitudes towards mental well-being. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Preto-post comparisons showed a significant increase (p < 0. 05) in students' understanding of mental health disorders and self-care practices, with an attitude shift indicated by a 32% reduction in stigma towards mental illness. The adolescent mental health self-care programmes significantly enhanced both knowledge acquisition and positive attitudes among the target population. Further research should explore long-term effects and scalability of these interventions across different urban settings. Adolescent Mental Health, Self-Care Programmes, Knowledge Gains, Attitude Shifts, Urban Schools Treatment effect was estimated with logit (pᵢ) =₀+^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.