CONSCIOUS: A Pilot Trial of a Media Orientation Intervention to Encourage Men's Help Seeking for Mental Health Difficulties (CONSCIOUS)

May 30, 2026 updated by: Tarela Ike, Teesside University

Media Orientation to Prevent Suicidal Ideation and Self Harm and Improve Help Seeking Behaviour: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Mental health difficulties among males are an issue of public health concern. Men are also at higher risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm and are poor at help-seeking due to factors including stigma, cultural norms and gendered expectations of masculinity. Yet, in Nigeria, a significant gap remains in media orientation intervention to create awareness on symptoms of mental health difficulties and support channels to encourage help-seeking. In essence, the current study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of a novel intervention titled, psyChosOcial media awareNesS for SuiCIde symptoms, including other mental health PrOblems and help seeking mediUmS (CONSCIOUS) for addressing awareness of mental health difficulties in comparison to the waitlist control group for the purposes of improving men's help seeking, social support and reducing anxiety in Nigeria.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

74

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • male, aged 18 years or above, able to provide full informed consent to aid their participation, able to speak the English language which is Nigeria language. able to take part in the intervention and are available for the intervention assessment at baseline and end of intervention.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • less than 18 years old, unable to provide informed consent, undergoing severe mental health treatment and unable to speak the English language. Participants were also excluded if they are high risk social ideation or self-harm patients.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental : psyChosOcial media awareNesS for SuiCIde symptoms and other mental health PrOblems
Low intensity media campaign intervention
Behavioral: Psychosocial media campaign
The CONSCIOUS is 3 minutes recorded media message. The intervention is designed to promote awareness on how to prevent suicidal ideation and self-harm, stigma reduction and avenues or mediums for help-seeking. The core message is composed of three key ambits: 1) emphasizing what is meant by suicidal ideation and self-harm (ii) the need to seek help and stop societal stigmatising behaviour (iii) Avenues for help seeking and improved mental health and wellbeing.
Other: Control - Intervention as Usual/Waitlist
Intervention as Usual / Waitlist to be administered the CONSCIOUS intervention after assessment at baseline (day 1) and end of intervention (day 2).
Other: Intervention as usual
Current available interventions to foster help seeking including leaflets, community health centre provision of information etc. This group will be later offered the CONSCIOUS intervention after completion of baseline and end of intervention assessment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Service Satisfaction Scale
Time Frame: Immediately after the end of the intervention
A five item scale that can be used to assess and measure satisfaction, acceptability and quality of the intervention. Higher score denote positive outcomes and acceptability. Lower score denotes poor satisfaction and acceptability.
Immediately after the end of the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The GAD-7 is a seven item scale for screening, measuring and assessing the severity of generalised anxiety disorder. Scores of 5, 10, and 15 are taken as the cut-off points for mild, moderate and severe anxiety, respectively.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The scale is a 3-item self-reported measure designed for assessing and measuring the level of social support. The sum score ranges from 3 to 14, with high values representing strong levels and low values representing poor levels of social support as indicated as follows: a) 3-8 poor social support, b) 9-11 moderate social support, c) 12-14 strong social support.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
European Quality of Life Scale EQ-5D-5L
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The EQ-5D-5L is a 5 item scale designed to aid assessment of the generic quality of life. In the EQ-5D-5L, each dimension has five response levels: no problems (Level 1); slight (Level 2); moderate (Level 3); severe (Level 4); and extreme problems (Level 5). There are 3,125 possible health states defined by combining one level from each dimension, ranging from 11111 (full health) to 55555 (worst health).
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Attitude Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The ATSPPH is a 10-item scale that measures attitude towards seeking professional psychological help. Higher scores reflect increased positive attitude towards seeking professional psychological help while lower score reflects reduced attitude towards seeking help.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
General Help Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The GHSQ is a 20-item scale measuring the likelihood of seeking help from a range of sources. The scale adopts a Likert style rating as follows: Extremely unlikely(1), Somewhat unlikely (2), Unlikely (3), Not sure (4), Likely =5, Somewhat likely = 6, Extremely likely =7. The scores are summed across all help-seeking items. For a standard 9-item list, total scores range from 9 to 63 points. Higher total scores indicate a greater overall intention to seek help from someone.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Self Stigma and Help Seeking (SSHS) Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The self-stigma and help seeking scale is a 10-item scale that measures stigma of seeking help. The scale features 10 items, each rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly. Items 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 are reverse-scored. The possible total score ranges from 10 to 50. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of internalised self-stigma associated with seeking professional psychological help.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS) measures public attitudes and stigma toward suicide, aiding research on societal perceptions and informing anti-stigma interventions to improve mental health outcomes. The long form consists of 58 items and the short form consists of 16 items. Each item consists of a one-word descriptor of a person who dies by suicide. A person completes the scale by rating how much they agree with each item being a descriptor of someone who takes their own life. Each item is to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stigma towards people who suicide.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) is a 20-item, true/false self-report inventory designed to measure an individual's negative attitudes or pessimism about the future. Lower score indicate none or minimal while higher score indicate severe.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a standard diagnostic tool used to screen for and measure the severity of depression. Scores range from 0 to 27, calculated by assigning 0 to 3 points for each of the nine questions. Scores ≤4 suggest minimal depression which may not require treatment. Higher score suggest depression.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)
The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report questionnaire used to assess PTSD symptoms based on DSM-5 criteria. It evaluates symptoms over the past month on a 0 to 4 scale, yielding a total severity score from 0 to 80. A score of 31-33 or higher is generally considered the clinical cutoff. Scores in this range suggest a provisional PTSD diagnosis.
Baseline (day 1) and at the end of intervention (day 2)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Teesside University

Collaborators

Jos University Teaching Hospital
The University of Manchester

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 3, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 3, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0000-0003-0516-0313h
  • CONSCIOUS (Other Identifier: Teesside University)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Data supporting this study cannot be made available due to the sensitive nature and ethical reasons on confidentiality.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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