Peer teaching in Psychological First Aid Training to promote students’ self-efficacy: A pilot randomised control trial

Abstract

Introduction

Students’ mental health disorders are increasing. However, there is a lack of studies on using the peer teaching method, where students teach other students to address the problem and improve students’ general self-efficacy.

Aim

To measure the feasibility of the peer teaching method in PFA training to promote self-efficacy.

Materials and Methods

This feasibility pilot study has a randomised controlled design. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention using the online general self-efficacy scale and reflection sheet. The number of enrolled participants, the proportion of enrolled participants who attended at least one session, the retention rate, and program acceptability were analysed.

Results

A total of 85 out of 208 students (40,9 %) who enrolled and randomised joined the study. Twenty-eight out of 104 participants (26,9 %) in the intervention group attended their training, much lower than that of the control group (74 out of 104 participants completed post-tests). However, only 25 out of 28 participants (89,3 %) completed their training. Results indicated positive responses from the participants, who felt the training was enjoyable and increased their knowledge of basic PFA.

Conclusion

The study found that the peer teaching method in a simplified PFA training session, without supervision, was feasible as a mental health intervention in a low-resource setting and acceptable for students to gain skills and knowledge about basic PFA. However, to increase students' participation, approaches need to be modified to increase program flexibility tailored to their time.