Evaluating the Effects of Mental Health Education by Two Methodsof Role Playing and Small Group Discussion on Boy Teenager's Mental Health

Mental health is one of the most significant aspects of health in adolescence, to which, if we do
not pay attention, may lead to complications in teenager's life. Therefore, it is necessary to find a way to increase
mental health in this period. This study aimed to compare the effect of mental health education by two methods,
role playing and small group discussion, on boy teenagers’ mental health.
This was a study on 183 boy students selected randomly from 4 random schools in one of areas of
education and training in Isfahan City, Iran (92 boys in small groups of discussion and 91 in play a role group).
Evaluation of the intervention was carried out prior to Goldberg questionnaire, two months after the intervention.
Findings: The education led to a significant decrease in the overall mental health score in both the methods, but
in the role playing group, the effect was more (11.57 ± 8.74) than small groups of discussion (14.58 ± 10.52)
(P 0.001) and physical symptoms (3.13 ± 2.32 vs. 4.01 ± 3.26, P = 0.011) were significantly
less in role playing group, too.
Regarding the effect of role playing method in improving public health, it can be used effectively to
promote boy students’ mental health.