# PRIDE --- ## **PR**em**I**um for a**D**olesc**E**nts Completed project (2016-2022). ### The Aim of the Study: PRIDE, a study led by **Dr. Vikram Patel, Dr. Daniel Michelson, and Dr. Kanika Malik (Sangath, India),** was a five-year research program seeking to develop psychosocial interventions for school-going adolescents aged 11-19 years with mental health problems in India. ### The Background: With India hosting one-fifth of the world's adolescent population, the Premium for Adolescents (PRIDE) project was initiated to devise and evaluate a comprehensive set of scalable, evidence-based, transdiagnostic interventions. These interventions were aimed at addressing prevalent mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and conduct disorders among school-going adolescents in India. ### The Project Plan: PRIDE was characterized by its novel approach, incorporating five major design innovations to ensure the effectiveness and reach of its interventions: - **Practice Elements:** Identification and systematic incorporation of evidence-based practices tailored to address common mental health problems among adolescents, contextualized to the local environment. - **Delivery by Lay Counselors:** Utilizing lay counselors for intervention delivery, capitalizing on evidence supporting the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of task-sharing models. - **Stepped Care Architecture:** Employing a resource-efficient, stepped care model that aligns with a progressive approach to mental health care delivery. - **Digital Technology Utilization:** Leveraging digital technologies to enhance the delivery, scalability, and engagement of interventions. - **Adolescent Engagement:** Actively involving adolescents in the co-design of interventions, ensuring their voices and needs shape the interventions. **PRIDE School Mental Health Architecture** The PRIDE program is structured into distinct steps to facilitate a comprehensive care approach: ![pride_steps](/sites/g/files/omnuum8326/files/mentalhealthlab/files/pride_steps.png) PRIDE's ongoing public engagement initiative, “It’s Ok To Talk” aims to enable a dialogue with young people around issues related to mental health through digital and community-based activities. The project launched a website, [www.itsoktotalk.in,](http://www.itsoktotalk.in/) as a platform dedicated to encouraging young people to share their mental health experiences. ### Supporters and Project Duration: **The Wellcome Trust, UK,** provided funding for PRIDE, which spanned from **2016 to 2022**. This period marked a pivotal chapter in advancing adolescent mental health care in India, showcasing the potential of innovative, scalable solutions to make a substantial impact in low-resource settings. To read more about the project, visit: [PRIDE](https://sangath.in/pride/) | [Sangath](https://sangath.in/), or write to **Dr. Kanika Malik at** ### Findings: PRIDE stands as one of the most extensive adolescent mental health research initiatives ever conducted in a low- and middle-income country context. Through its execution: ![pride_impact](/sites/g/files/omnuum8326/files/mentalhealthlab/files/pride_impact.png) ### Publications: - November 2023: [Developing knowledge-based psychotherapeutic competencies in non-specialist providers: A pre-post study with a nested randomised controlled trial of a coach-supported versus self-guided digital training course for a problem-solving psychological intervention in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IPLliYuFH_feyYXmuf3lM9O-w2LA6vIQ/view?usp=sharing) - June 2023:[ Coach-supported versus self-guided digital training course for a problem-solving psychological intervention for non-specialists: Protocol for a pre- and poststudy nested randomized controlled trial](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QOq9FhrmmhnFTmfTT48V2So3eFnKvBxa/view?usp=sharing) - January 2023:[ Feasibility and Acceptability of a Remote Stepped Care Mental Health Programme for Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BBmNH8lf6GXkDvC3QsAG1kinvw0OmBu4/view?usp=sharing) - January 2023:[ Pilot randomised controlled trial of a remotely delivered online intervention for adolescent mental health problems in India: Lessons learned about low acceptability and feasibility during the COVID-19 pandemic](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f9g-46U5mZuToIug2Zf5JkvNsM2lpYCM/view?usp=sharing) - November 2022:[ A qualitative analysis of collaborative efforts to build a school-based intervention for multiple common adolescent mental health difficulties in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Di4I23Vat4XQ8qfixNl52LPWC6a_ot-/view?usp=sharing) - August 2022:[ A pilot study to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of training mental health workers in India to select case-specific intervention procedures within a dynamic modular treatment designed for a low-resource setting](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CgWbMsseYJgah2kN-_JY4Z81WSDp7Ezk/view?usp=sharing) - March 2022:[ Development of a transdiagnostic stepped care programme for common adolescent mental health problems in Indian secondary schools: lessons from a pilot study examining acceptability and feasibility](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10weQPSsWU5g4KYRWMN3hLVH5WZUFN90y/view?usp=sharing) - February 2022:[ If there is a tension about something, I can solve it: A qualitative investigation of change processes in a trial of brief problem-solving interventions for common adolescent mental health problems in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kOxDfTDcmR1w2MmKf13kWK5VHihgSG9Y/view?usp=sharing) - October 2021:[ A Guided Internet-Based Problem-Solving Intervention Delivered Through Smartphones for Secondary School Pupils During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kSvpqUmEBzZbYj3bqN3T1F6YNO2ZZHoq/view?usp=sharing) - September 2021:[ Effectiveness and costs associated with a lay counselor-delivered, brief problem-solving mental health intervention for adolescents in urban, low-income schools in India: 12-month outcomes of a randomized controlled trial](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T6UwLLZSelbM5abeDazg34aqp41mTgrg/view?usp=sharing) - June 2021:[ Increasing demand for school counselling through a lay counsellor-delivered classroom sensitisation intervention: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in New Delhi, India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEYfQoz78lFZDg3XU1bWXl-3YGUpwQOD/view?usp=sharing) - February 2021:[ App-based guided problem-solving intervention for adolescent mental health: a pilot cohort study in Indian schools](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1opihNSNzHL24afcikXyME-7wW5B6gzw2/view?usp=sharing) - October 2020:[ Design process and protocol description for a multi-problem mental health intervention within a stepped care approach for adolescents in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QFqpLd2Z-dRpc2kse4nPlTHtNGFs2qLf/view?usp=sharing) - August 2020:[ Effectiveness of a brief lay counsellor-delivered, problem-solving intervention for adolescent mental health problems in urban, low-income schools in India: a randomised controlled trial](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10ZchPxmhT_JmEil3oPUiL4LoFEQ3s8DI/view?usp=sharing) - August 2019:[ Priorities and preferences for school-based mental health services in India: a multi-stakeholder study with adolescents, parents, school staff, and mental health providers](https://drive.google.com/file/d/166BuB_MRNyJIgNAUXBViB8CxSAS9-vtH/view?usp=sharing) - August 2019:[ Design and Development of the POD Adventures Smartphone Game: A Blended Problem-Solving Intervention for Adolescent Mental Health in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rilftnJLgbBkV4NB17sT6k3pJTcRFhUn/view?usp=sharing) - May 2019:[ It is like a mind attack: stress and coping among urban school-going adolescents in India](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_9jvFFw8JcgAfySKJqEF1is5Vg6pBPmj/view?usp=sharing) - April 2019:[ India's response to adolescent mental health: a policy review and stakeholder analysis](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ihWxlZm2wMUDqSYFni6qo6OeSzAqAWtz/view?usp=sharing) ## Latest Lab News [### Publication: Breaking the Cycle - How Maternal Adversity Shapes Parenting Among Adolescent Mothers in Brazil ](/news/2026/05/publication-breaking-cycle-how-maternal-adversity-shapes-parenting-among-adolescent) May 12, 2026 This publication explores how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intimate partner violence (IPV) shape parenting behaviors among adolescent mothers in Brazil. 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