Abstract
Enhancing the mental health literacy of students stands out as a crucial factor in mitigating social harm within society. This randomized controlled trial assessed the effectiveness of a mental health literacy program called the "Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide," which was introduced in the first secondary schools in the southeastern region of Iran in 2023. There were 40 teachers and 562 students from 20 schools involved in the study and randomly divided in two groups of intervention and control groups. The levels of mental health literacy, knowledge, and attitudes towards mental illness were measured using a questionnaire in two control and intervention groups, both before and after the mental health curriculum was implemented. The results of the study showed that the mental health literacy, mental health knowledge and attitude to mental illness/disorders of the students after the intervention were significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group (p < 0.001). Also, the results showed that after adjusting the influencing factors (gender, teacher, number of children in the family), mental health literacy (p < 0.001), mental health knowledge (p < 0.001), attitude to mental illness/disorders (p < 0.002) had a significant effect. The study revealed that students' mental health literacy, knowledge and attitudes were positively impacted by the classroom program.