Cross‑Cultural Evaluation of a Digital Mental Health Literacy Program for Medical Students

Medical students have a heightened risk of mental health problems compared to general student population. Incorporating mental health literacy programs has been suggested as one strategy to improve the medical students' wellbeing. We translated and culturally adapted a digital mental health literacy program previously tested in Finland to Lithuanian and Argentinean settings. The program was provided to the first-year medical students as an optional course in Argentina and Lithuania and as a mandatory course in Finland during academic years of 2020-2021. In addition to the digital material, the program comprised two lectures, delivered remotely due to COVID-19 social distancing policies. The measurements were conducted using e-questionnaires embedded in the digital material before and after the program delivery as well as 2 months after the baseline. A mental health literacy measurement tool was used to measure the students' mental health knowledge, stigma and attitudes towards help-seeking. In addition, Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS) was used to measure internalizing problems and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was employed to assess stress. The purpose of the study was to examine possible changes in the MHL and mental health outcomes from baseline to after the intervention. We expected improvement in the medical students' mental health literacy outcomes and reduction in perceived stress.