The main aim ofthe research project is to study the impact ofpositive psychology interventions to improve the mental health ofyouth from lower socio-economic backgrounds aged 12-14 years, primarily focusing on character strengths – kindness, gratitude, and hope. Moreover, these interventions are tailored to be delivered through arts-based methods like storytelling, theatre, and role-playing which have been culturally adapted to suit the target population. The effectiveness ofthis arts-based intervention will be compared to a control group that will deliver mental health literacy sessions. The study is conducted in two settings – formal schools and community spaces within the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits. An integral part of the project is the active engagement oftrained youth (18-25 years) throughout all stages of the research, right from the initial design to the intervention delivery.

Started in November 2022, this collaborative project with SNEHA aims to understand family conflict across different generations i.e. Intergenerational Conflict, specific to the Indian context and how it affects suicidal ideations and behavior among youth. Ultimately, the goal is to design an actionable intervention module backed by a framework, which will be pilot-tested initially in Urban Chennai, and eventually implemented across a larger target population.

Project MARCH is devoted to improving youth mental well-being by delivering interventions focusing on three significant aspects – Inner (Emotional Regulation and Resilience), Social (Communication skills), and Environmental (Social Connectedness), emphasizing the character strengths ofkindness, hope, and gratitude. These interventions adopt an artistic and theatrical style and follow the manual developed based on the project team’s experiential learning principles. The target population is youth aged 12-24 years from colleges and communities in Chennai. The goal is to create a functioning safe space in these places, which is self-sustaining and easy to access.

Taking place over three college campuses in Chennai and covering about 15,000 students, the central aspect ofthis project is instrumentalizing a digital app to promote mental health literacy,detecting specific mental health issues like depression and anxiety, and encouraging help-seeking behavior for the same. Depending on the severity ofthe issue, there are three levels of intervention. The first is self-intervention which is in the form ofshort 2-3 minute videos about topics like sleep and emotional regulation (mild to moderate level). A group oftrained Peer Support Volunteers is also available offline and online ifthe student wishes to talk about their issues to someone (moderate level). Ifthe issue is severe, reaching out to a mental health professional is the third level ofintervention. Interventions at all three levels are available to everyone. Information about various relevant helpline numbers has also been provided on the app.