Validation of a brief screener for broad-spectrum mental and substance-use disorders in South Africa.

In low-resource settings, valid mental health screening tools for non-specialists can be used to identify patients with psychiatric disorders in need of critical mental health care. The Mental Wellness Tool-13 (mwTool-13) is a 13-item screener for identifying adults at risk for common mental disorders (CMDs) alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), substance-use disorders (SUD), severe mental disorders (SMDs), and suicide risk (SR). The mwTool-13 is administered in two steps, specifically, only those who endorse any of the initial three questions receive the remaining ten questions. We evaluated the performance of mwTool-13 in South Africa against a diagnostic gold standard. We recruited a targeted, gender-balanced sample of adults, aged ≥18 years at primary and tertiary healthcare facilities in Eastern Cape Province. Of the 1885 participants, the prevalence of CMD, AUD, SMD, SR, and SUD was 24.4%, 9.5%, 8.1%, 6.0%, and 1.6%, respectively. The mwTool-13 yielded high sensitivities for CMD, SMD, and SR, but sub-optimal sensitivities for AUD and SUD (56.7% and 64.5%, respectively). Including a single AUD question in the initial question set improved the tool's performance in identifying AUD and SUD (sensitivity > 70%), while maintaining brevity, face-validity, and simplicity in the South African setting.

Leveraging a Digitized Mental Wellness (DIGImw) Program to Provide Mental Health Care for Internally Displaced People.

A local insurgency has displaced many people in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. The authors' global team (comprising members from Brazil, Mozambique, South Africa, and the United States) has been scaling up mental health services across the neighboring province of Nampula, Mozambique, now host to >200,000 displaced people. The authors describe how mental health services can be expanded by leveraging digital technology and task-shifting (i.e., having nonspecialists deliver mental health care) to address the mental health needs of displaced people. These methods can serve as a model for other researchers and clinicians aiming to address mental health needs arising from humanitarian disasters in low-resource settings.

Application of the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation of strategies to health intervention implementation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project developed a compilation of implementation strategies that are intended to standardize reporting and evaluation. Little is known about the application of ERIC in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We systematically reviewed the literature on the use and specification of ERIC strategies for health intervention implementation in LMICs to identify gaps and inform future research. METHODS: We searched peer-reviewed articles published through March 2023 in any language that (1) were conducted in an LMIC and (2) cited seminal ERIC articles or (3) mentioned ERIC in the title or abstract. Two co-authors independently screened all titles, abstracts, and full-text articles, then abstracted study, intervention, and implementation strategy characteristics of included studies. RESULTS: The final sample included 60 studies describing research from all world regions, with over 30% published in the final year of our review period. Most studies took place in healthcare settings (n = 52, 86.7%), while 11 (18.2%) took place in community settings and four (6.7%) at the policy level. Across studies, 548 distinct implementation strategies were identified with a median of six strategies (range 1-46 strategies) included in each study. Most studies (n = 32, 53.3%) explicitly matched implementation strategies used for the ERIC compilation. Among those that did, 64 (87.3%) of the 73 ERIC strategies were represented. Many of the strategies not cited included those that target systems- or policy-level barriers. Nearly 85% of strategies included some component of strategy specification, though most only included specification of their action (75.2%), actor (57.3%), and action target (60.8%). A minority of studies employed randomized trials or high-quality quasi-experimental designs; only one study evaluated implementation strategy effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: While ERIC use in LMICs is rapidly growing, its application has not been consistent nor commonly used to test strategy effectiveness. Research in LMICs must better specify strategies and evaluate their impact on outcomes. Moreover, strategies that are tested need to be better specified, so they may be compared across contexts. Finally, strategies targeting policy-, systems-, and community-level determinants should be further explored. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, CRD42021268374.

Suicide in Global Mental Health.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We review recent research on the epidemiology and etiology of suicide in the global context. We focus on data from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with the goal of highlighting findings from these under-researched, over-burdened settings. RECENT FINDINGS: Prevalence of suicide in LMIC adults varies across region and country income-level, but is, on average, lower than in high-income countries. Recent gains in suicide reduction, however, have been smaller in LMIC compared to global rates. LMIC youth have much higher rates of suicide attempts than youth from high-income countries. Females as well as people with psychiatric disorders, those living with HIV, those who are LGBTQ + , and those with poor socioeconomic status are highly vulnerable populations in LMIC. Limited and low-quality data from LMIC hinder clear interpretation and comparison of results. A greater body of more rigorous research is needed to understand and prevent suicide in these settings.

Mental health and ART adherence among adolescents living with HIV in Mozambique

Little is known about the mental health needs of adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) in Mozambique, including the potential relationship between mental health challenges and poor antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence. We examined mental health problems (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms and impairment) and their association with self-reported ART adherence among ALWH ages 15-19 in Nampula, Mozambique. The associations between each mental health problem area and sub-optimal adherence were estimated using logistic regression, controlling for age, education, and social support, with interaction by gender. Males had significantly higher anxiety (5.6 vs 4.3, p = 0.01), depression (5.8 vs 4.1, p = 0.005), and PTSD (13.3 vs 9.8, p = 0.02) symptoms and impairment (1.8 vs 0.56, p<0.0001) scores than females. Proportion reporting sub-optimal adherence (65%) did not differ by gender. Higher anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptom and impairment scores were significantly associated with higher odds of sub-optimal ART adherence in males but not females. Among Mozambican ALWH, mental health problems were prevalent and two-thirds had ART adherence less than 90%. Worse mental health was associated with increased odds of sub-optimal ART adherence in males but not females. Interventions are needed to address mental health problems and improve ART adherence in Mozambican ALWH, particularly among males.

Mental health and ART adherence among adolescents living with HIV in Mozambique.

Little is known about the mental health needs of adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) in Mozambique, including the potential relationship between mental health challenges and poor antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence. We examined mental health problems (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms and impairment) and their association with self-reported ART adherence among ALWH ages 15-19 in Nampula, Mozambique. The associations between each mental health problem area and sub-optimal adherence were estimated using logistic regression, controlling for age, education, and social support, with interaction by gender. Males had significantly higher anxiety (5.6 vs 4.3, p = 0.01), depression (5.8 vs 4.1, p = 0.005), and PTSD (13.3 vs 9.8, p = 0.02) symptoms and impairment (1.8 vs 0.56, p<0.0001) scores than females. Proportion reporting sub-optimal adherence (65%) did not differ by gender. Higher anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptom and impairment scores were significantly associated with higher odds of sub-optimal ART adherence in males but not females. Among Mozambican ALWH, mental health problems were prevalent and two-thirds had ART adherence less than 90%. Worse mental health was associated with increased odds of sub-optimal ART adherence in males but not females. Interventions are needed to address mental health problems and improve ART adherence in Mozambican ALWH, particularly among males.

Emotional contagion behavior in a group of young girls in a secondary school in Maputo, Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Emotional Contagion Behavior (ECB), the synchronized expression of emotional symptoms among members of a group, has been observed globally. In Mozambique, there have been numerous reports of ECB in recent years. Since 2010 several girls from a secondary school in Maputo City, Mozambique exhibited ECB which involved repeated fainting spells, sometimes including verbal aggression and threats to colleagues and teachers. We conducted a study to analyze sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with ECB. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 154 females aged from 16 to 24 years old. We considered emotional contagion behavior as repeated fainting spells, sometimes including verbal aggression and threats to others (colleagues and teachers). Participants responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Scale, and the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models analyzed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with EBC. RESULTS: Among study participants, 57 presented ECB and 97 did not. The likelihood of ECB was higher among those with previous history of ECB (OR = 8.28, 95% CI [2.51, 27.30]; p ⩽ .001) and extroverted personality profile (OR = 1.15, 95% CI [1.01, 1.30]; p = .038). Having a romantic relationship was related to lower likelihood of having ECB (OR = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.19]; p = .001). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ECB may repeat over time and be related to challenges pertaining to personality development, the presence of sexual life, and close relationships with peers faced by adolescent girls.

Does It Matter What Screener We Use? A Comparison of Ultra-brief PHQ-4 and E-mwTool-3 Screeners for Anxiety and Depression Among People With and Without HIV.

The burden of depression and anxiety disorders is high in sub-Saharan Africa, especially for people with HIV (PWH). The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) and Electronic Mental Wellness Tool-3 (E-mwTool-3) are ultra-brief screening tools for these disorders. We compared the performance of PHQ-4 and E-mwTool-3 for screening MINI-International Neuropsychiatric Interview diagnoses of depression and anxiety among a sample of individuals with and without HIV in two primary care clinics and one general hospital in Maputo City, Mozambique. Areas-under-the-curve (AUC) were calculated along with sensitivities and specificities at a range of cutoffs. For PWH, at a sum score cutoff of ≥ 1, sensitivities were strong: PHQ-4:Depression = 0.843; PHQ-4:Anxiety = 0.786; E-mwTool-3:Depression = 0.843; E-mwTool-3:Anxiety = 0.929. E-mwTool-3 performance was comparable to PHQ-4 among people with and without HIV.

A Multi-Site Study of Mental Disorders in the Mozambican Health Care System.

In Mozambique, human and financial resources for public mental health services are extremely limited. Understanding the mental health needs of those seeking healthcare can inform efficient targeting of mental health services. We examined if the frequency of mental disorders in a health facility varied based on the level of specialization of such facility, from primary care without mental health specialists (PrCMH -), to those with mental health specialists (PrCMH +) and tertiary care (TerC), where both inpatient and outpatient mental health services are available. Participants were adults (convenience sample) seeking health or mental health services at six facilities (2 PrCMH + , 3 PrCMH -, and 1 TerC) in the cities of Maputo and Nampula in Mozambique. Mental disorders were assessed by the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) 4.0.0. We compared the sociodemographic characteristics and MINI diagnoses across the three types of health facilities. Multiple logistic regression models determined the likelihood that a person seeking services at each type of facility would have any mental disorder, common mental disorders (CMD), severe mental disorders (SMD), substance use disorders (SUD), and moderate-to-high suicide risk, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Of the 612 total participants, 52.6% (n = 322) were positive for at least one mental disorder: 37.1% were positive for CMD, 28.9% for SMD, 13.2% for SUD, and 10.5% had suicide risk. Presence of any mental disorder was highest in TerC (62.5%) and lowest in PrCMH - (48.4%). Adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, participants in PrCMH + were significantly more likely to have SMD (OR 1.85, 95%CI 1.10-3.11) and SUD (OR 2.79, 95%CI 1.31-5.94) than participants in PrCMH -; participants in TerC were more likely to have CMD (OR 1.70, 95%CI 1.01-2.87) and SUD (OR 2.57, 95%CI 1.14-5.79) than in PrCMH -. Suicide risk was the only condition that did not differ across facility types. As anticipated, people with mental disorders were more likely to be cared for at facilities with mental health specialists. However, our study detected in this convenience sample a remarkably high frequency of mental disorders across different types of facilities within the Mozambican healthcare system. These results, if confirmed in representative samples, suggest a need to increase mental health services at the primary care level.

Validation of brief screening instruments for internalizing and externalizing disorders in Mozambican adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability for youth worldwide. However, there is a dearth of validated, brief instruments to assess mental health in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We aimed to facilitate identification of mental disorders in LMIC contexts by adapting and validating measures of internalizing and externalizing disorders for adolescents in Mozambique, an LMIC in southeastern Africa. METHODS: We selected instruments with good support for validity in high-income and other LMIC settings: the Patient Health Questionnaire Adolescent (PHQ-A), Generalized Anxiety Disorders 7 (GAD-7), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Instruments were adapted by local and international mental health specialists followed by cognitive interviews (n = 48) with Mozambican adolescents. We administered the instruments along with the Miniature International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID)to 485 adolescents aged 12-19 years attending two secondary schools in Maputo City, Mozambique. One week later, we re-administered instruments to a randomly selected sample of 49 adolescents. RESULTS: Participants were 66.2% (n = 321) female and the average age was 15.9 (S.D = 1.7).Internal consistency (alpha = 0.80, PHQ-A; 0.84, GAD-7; 0.80, SDQ) and test-retest reliabilty (ICC = 0.74, PHQ-A; 0.70, GAD-7; 0.77, SDQ) were acceptabe for the PHQ-A, GAD-7, and the full SDQ. The SDQ internalizing subscale showed poor test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.63) and the SDQ externalizing subscale showed poor internal consistency (alpha = 0.65). All instruments demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity (> 0.70). Youden's index identified optimal cutoff scores of 8 for the PHQ-A, 5 for the GAD-7, 10 for the SDQ internalizing and 9 for the SDQ externalizing subscales, though a range of scores provided acceptable sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Our data supports reliability and validity of the PHQ-A, GAD-7, and SDQ instruments for rapidly assessing mental health problems in Mozambican adolescents. Use of these tools in other contexts with limited specialists may asist with expanding mental health assessment. Specific instrument and cutoff selection should be based on screening goals, treatment resources, and program objectives.

Leveraging Stakeholder Engagement and Virtual Environments to Develop a Strategy for Implementation of Adolescent Depression Services Integrated Within Primary Care Clinics of Mozambique.

Psychiatric disorders are the number one cause of disability in adolescents worldwide. Yet, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where 90% of adolescents reside, mental health services are extremely limited, and the majority do not have access to treatment. Integration of mental health services within primary care of LMICs has been proposed as an efficient and sustainable way to close the adolescent mental health treatment gap. However, there is limited research on how to effectively implement integrated mental health care in LMIC. In the present study, we employed Implementation Mapping to develop a multilevel strategy for integrating adolescent depression services within primary care clinics of Maputo, Mozambique. Both in-person and virtual approaches for Implementation Mapping activities were used to support an international implementation planning partnership and promote the engagement of multilevel stakeholders. We identified determinants to implementation of mental health services for adolescents in LMIC across all levels of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, of which of 25% were unique to adolescent-specific services. Through a series of stakeholder workshops focused on implementation strategy selection, prioritization, and specification, we then developed an implementation plan comprising 33 unique strategies that target determinants at the intervention, patient, provider, policy, and community levels. The implementation plan developed in this study will be evaluated for delivering adolescent depression services in Mozambican primary care and may serve as a model for other low-resource settings.

Social and Psychiatric Factors of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Mozambican Adolescents.

Globally, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24 years, and more than 75% of all deaths by suicide occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).1 Suicidal thoughts (ST) and suicidal behaviors (SB), valuable signals for early detection and prevention of suicide deaths, have been associated with a number of different factors in adolescents, including gender and age, socioeconomic status, exposure to childhood adversity, and psychopathology.2 However, research has largely focused on Western, White populations from high-income countries (HIC).2 To lessen the suicide burden among adolescents in LMIC, there is an urgent need to identify contextually relevant risk identification and treatment targets. In Mozambique, the country with the highest suicide rate in southern Africa, this need is particularly dire, as there are fewer than 2 mental health specialists per 100,000 inhabitants,3 and limited resources must be efficiently targeted in youth suicide prevention efforts. We conducted a cross-sectional study at 2 secondary schools in the Mozambican capital Maputo City to identify the social and psychiatric factors associated with ST and SB in Mozambican adolescents.

Evaluation of pulmonary tuberculosis diagnostic tests in children and adolescents at a pediatric reference center.

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluates the performance of individual and combinations tests used for pediatric tuberculosis diagnosis at a reference center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diagnostic test outcomes from children with presumed pulmonary tuberculosis evaluated from January 2005 - July 2010 were compared to a standard diagnosis made by an expert panel of physicians. RESULTS: Presence of at least one sign/symptom, history of contact, or abnormal chest X-ray (aCXR) individually showed the highest sensitivity (85.7%). While the combination of history of contact, at least one sign/symptom, positive tuberculin skin test, and aCXR had low sensitivity of 20%, but the specificity and a positive predictive value were 100%, respectively. The combination of tests used in the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the Brazilian Ministry of Health systems showed sensitivity of 28.6% and 71.4% and specificity of 95.8% and 97.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of a gold standard, the combination of clinical history, tuberculin skin test, and aCXR, as well as the Brazilian scoring system serve as simple, low-cost approach that can be used for pediatric TB diagnosis by first-contact care providers.

The Child Mental Health Treatment Gap in an Urban Low-Income Setting: Multisectoral Service Use and Correlates.

OBJECTIVE: To efficiently target capacity-building efforts for child mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is critical to define how care is structured across sectors and individual-level factors. METHODS: In a community-based sample of 1,408 children and adolescents (ages 6-15 years) from Itaboraí, Brazil, the authors assessed need and service use across four care systems (mental health specialty, health, welfare, and informal). Individual-level factors included child gender and age, maternal perception of child mental health need, paternal absence, maternal education, and maternal anxiety and depression. RESULTS: The mental health treatment gap was 88%, with only 12% of children with psychiatric problems using mental health services. Children with mental health problems were more likely than those without these problems to use health and other sectors of care and to use services in more than one sector of care. Overall, 46% of the children with any clinical mental health problems and 31% of those with only internalizing problems were identified by their mothers as having a mental health need. Among those with clinical mental health problems, factors associated with mental health service use were being a boy and paternal absence but not mental health problem type or maternal awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Closing the child mental health treatment gap in urban settings in LMICs where resources are scarce will likely require system-level changes, such as engagement of diverse service sectors of care. Interventions need to target increased maternal awareness about mental health problems and encourage provision of mental health services to girls.

Women's mental health in Mozambique: is maternity a protective factor?

Backgroud: Globally, women have been shown to have high rates of common mental disorders (CMDs). In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), women face significant challenges related to maternity. However, no study has compared mental health problems among pregnant/post-partum women, childless women of childbearing age, and women with children in a low-income country. We sought to compare the frequency of CMD and suicide risk in a sample of women presenting or accompanying patients in primary care in two Mozambican semi-urban settings. Methods: We administered the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview to 853 women, of whom 220 (25.8%) were pregnant/post-partum, 177 (20.8%) were non-pregnant and childless, and 456 (53.5%) were non-pregnant and with children more than 1-year-old. Logistic regression models compared the likelihood of a psychiatric disorder across groups, adjusting for sociodemographic and chronic-illness covariates. Results: We found a high frequency of CMD and suicide risk among all women in this low-income context sample. In adjusted models, no differences in rates of depression, anxiety, or panic disorder were observed among groups. However, suicide risk was higher in women without children than pregnant/post-partum women. Conclusion: The frequency of CMD among women of childbearing age in our study was higher than documented rates in high-income countries and other LMIC. Additionally, we found that motherhood was not protective and that pregnancy and the postpartum period were not stages of increased risk for most disorders. This highlights the need to expand mental health services not only for perinatal women but all women of childbearing age in this and possibly similar settings.

Leveraging Systems Science to Promote the Implementation and Sustainability of Mental Health and Psychosocial Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

ABSTRACT: Advancements in global mental health implementation research have revealed promising strategies for improving access to evidence-based mental health care. These advancements have not translated, however, into a reduced prevalence of mental disorders. In this review we examine the relationships between determinants (i.e., barriers and facilitators) and outcomes of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries to identify opportunities for improving the population-level impact and sustainability of innovations in global mental health. We identified three key implementation and services outcomes that influenced the prevalence of mental disorders in the 56 included review articles: supply (access, implementation), demand (help seeking, utilization), and quality (effectiveness, quality of care) of mental health services. Determinants of these outcomes revealed seven themes: community stakeholder engagement; cultural relevance; stigma; human resource capacity; organization of services; governance, policy, and financing; and sociopolitical and community context. We developed a causal loop diagram to illustrate the relationships among these determinants and outcomes. The causal loop diagram revealed the central role of community stakeholder engagement in bridging implementation and patient outcomes, the importance of addressing stigma and social determinants of mental health, and the need to complement supply-side implementation strategies with approaches to equilibrate demand and improve the quality of services. Applying systems science methodologies to global mental health research presents an opportunity to examine the complex relationships among community and health system factors that influence implementation of evidence-based interventions in order to identify sustainable approaches to improve the population-level impact of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries.

Leveraging Systems Science to Promote the Implementation and Sustainability of Mental Health and Psychosocial Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Advancements in global mental health implementation research have revealed promising strategies for improving access to evidence-based mental health care. These advancements have not translated, however, into a reduced prevalence of mental disorders. In this review we examine the relationships between determinants (i.e., barriers and facilitators) and outcomes of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries to identify opportunities for improving the population-level impact and sustainability of innovations in global mental health. We identified three key implementation and services outcomes that influenced the prevalence of mental disorders in the 56 included review articles: supply (access, implementation), demand (help seeking, utilization), and quality (effectiveness, quality of care) of mental health services. Determinants of these outcomes revealed seven themes: community stakeholder engagement; cultural relevance; stigma; human resource capacity; organization of services; governance, policy, and financing; and sociopolitical and community context. We developed a causal loop diagram to illustrate the relationships among these determinants and outcomes. The causal loop diagram revealed the central role of community stakeholder engagement in bridging implementation and patient outcomes, the importance of addressing stigma and social determinants of mental health, and the need to complement supply-side implementation strategies with approaches to equilibrate demand and improve the quality of services. Applying systems science methodologies to global mental health research presents an opportunity to examine the complex relationships among community and health system factors that influence implementation of evidence-based interventions in order to identify sustainable approaches to improve the population-level impact of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries. Advancements in global mental health implementation research have revealed promising strategies for improving access to evidence-based mental health care. These advancements have not translated, however, into a reduced prevalence of mental disorders. In this review we examine the relationships between determinants (i.e., barriers and facilitators) and outcomes of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries to identify opportunities for improving the population-level impact and sustainability of innovations in global mental health. We identified three key implementation and services outcomes that influenced the prevalence of mental disorders in the 56 included review articles: supply (access, implementation), demand (help seeking, utilization), and quality (effectiveness, quality of care) of mental health services. Determinants of these outcomes revealed seven themes: community stakeholder engagement; cultural relevance; stigma; human resource capacity; organization of services; governance, policy, and financing; and sociopolitical and community context. We developed a causal loop diagram to illustrate the relationships among these determinants and outcomes. The causal loop diagram revealed the central role of community stakeholder engagement in bridging implementation and patient outcomes, the importance of addressing stigma and social determinants of mental health, and the need to complement supply-side implementation strategies with approaches to equilibrate demand and improve the quality of services. Applying systems science methodologies to global mental health research presents an opportunity to examine the complex relationships among community and health system factors that influence implementation of evidence-based interventions in order to identify sustainable approaches to improve the population-level impact of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries.

Building community-based helping practices by training peer-father counselors: A novel intervention to reduce drinking and depressive symptoms among fathers through an expanded masculinity lens.

BACKGROUND: Problem drinking and co-occurring depression symptoms affect men at high rates and are associated with increased risk of family violence. In low- and middle-income countries, there is a large treatment gap for services due to a lack of human resources. Moreover, masculine norms are a barrier to men seeking treatment for drinking and depression in healthcare settings. We examined an approach for engaging peer-fathers to deliver an intervention to reduce alcohol use, improve depressive symptoms, and increase family involvement among fathers in Kenya with problem drinking. The intervention-LEAD (Learn, Engage, Act, Dedicate)-combines motivational interviewing, behavioral activation, and masculinity discussion strategies. METHODS: Community and religious leaders nominated fathers with no mental health training to serve as counselors (N=12); clients were recruited through community referrals. Nominated fathers completed a 10-day training beginning with treatment principles followed by manualized content. Three counselors were selected after training based on quantitative and qualitative assessments of communication skills, intervention knowledge, willingness to learn, ability to use feedback, and empathy. Supervision was tiered with local supervisors and clinical psychologist consultation. During LEAD delivery, counselor fidelity, delivery quality, and general and intervention-specific competencies were assessed. To evaluate acceptability, qualitative interviews were conducted with lay-counselors and clients (N=11). Descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative outcomes; interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Peer-father lay counselors treated nine clients, with eight completing treatment. Counselors reached high rates of fidelity (93.8%) and high to optimal ratings on quality of delivery, clinical competency, and intervention-specific competencies. Qualitative results suggested high acceptability, with counselors expressing satisfaction and empowerment in their roles. Clients likewise described positive experiences with counselors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide initial support for the acceptability and feasibility of recruitment, selection, and training processes for peer-father lay counselors to deliver LEAD through a lens of masculinity that aligned with clients help-acceptance practices.

Brief Screening Tool for Stepped-Care Management of Mental and Substance Use Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Stepped mental health care requires a rapid method for nonspecialists to detect illness. This study aimed to develop and validate a brief instrument, the Mental Wellness Tool (mwTool), for identification and classification. METHODS: Cross-sectional development and validation samples included adults at six health facilities in Mozambique. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview diagnoses were the criterion standard. Candidate items were from nine mental disorder and functioning assessments. Regression modeling and expert consultation determined best items for identifying any mental disorder and classifying positives into disorder categories (severe mental disorder, common mental disorder, substance use disorder, and suicide risk). For validation, sensitivity and specificity were calculated for any mental disorder (index and proxy respondents) and disorder categories (index). RESULTS: From the development sample (911 participants, mean±SD age=32.0±11 years, 63% female), 13 items were selected-three with 0.83 sensitivity (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.79-0.86) for any mental disorder and 10 additional items classifying participants with a specificity that ranged from 0.72 (severe mental disorder) to 0.90 (suicide risk). For validation (453 participants, age 31±11 years, 65% female), sensitivity for any mental disorder was 0.94 (95% CI=0.89-0.97) with index responses and 0.73 (95% CI=0.58-0.85) with family proxy responses. Specificity for categories ranged from 0.47 (severe mental disorder) to 0.93 (suicide risk). Removing one item increased severe mental disorder specificity to 0.63 (95% CI=0.58-0.68). CONCLUSIONS: The mwTool performed well for identification of any mental disorder with index and proxy responses to three items and for classification into treatment categories with index responses to nine additional items.