A Climbing (Bouldering) Intervention to Increase the Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon-Study Protocol for a Controlled Trial

Katharina Luttenberger (), Charbel Najem, Simon Rosenbaum, Charles Sifri, Leona Kind and Beat Baggenstos
Additional contact information
Katharina Luttenberger: Department Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Charbel Najem: Spine, Head and Pain Research Unit Ghent, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
Simon Rosenbaum: Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW, Sydney 2052, Australia
Charles Sifri: ClimbAID Lebanon, Branch of ClimbAID, 8048 Zurich, Switzerland
Leona Kind: Department Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Beat Baggenstos: ClimbAID Lebanon, Branch of ClimbAID, 8048 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: (1) Background: Adolescent refugees in Lebanon and Lebanese youth are both at high risk of suffering from reduced psychological well-being. Sport is an evidence-based strategy for improving mental and physical health, and climbing is a type of sport that may positively impact both. The aim of this study is to test the effect of a manualized, psychosocial group climbing intervention on the well-being, distress, self-efficacy, and social cohesion of adolescents in Lebanon. In addition, the mechanisms behind psychological changes will be investigated. (2) Methods: In this mixed-methods waitlist-controlled study, we are allocating a minimum of 160 participants to an intervention (IG) or a control group (CG). The primary outcome is overall mental well-being (WEMWBS) after the 8-week intervention. Secondary outcomes include distress symptoms (K-6 Distress Scale), self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale; GSE), and social cohesion. Potential mechanisms of change and implementation factors are being investigated through qualitative interviews with a subgroup of 40 IG participants. (3) Conclusions: The results may contribute to knowledge of sports interventions and their effects on psychological well-being and will provide insights regarding low-intensity interventions for supporting adolescent refugees and host populations in conflict-affected settings. The study was prospectively registered at the ISRCTN platform (current-controlled trials). ISRCTN13005983.

Keywords: adolescent mental health; physical activity; bouldering/climbing; refugees; intervention studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4289/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4289/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4289-:d:1083035

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().