Cultural Adaptation of an Online Parenting Intervention to Reduce the Risk of Depression and Anxiety in Adolescents

Depression and anxiety are common mental health problems among adolescents and can affect their relationships, education, physical health and everyday lives. In Pakistan, many adolescents experience emotional difficulties, but mental health problems are often overlooked. Stigma, limited awareness about mental health and difficulties accessing professional support can prevent young people and families from getting the help they need. Parents play an important role in supporting their adolescents' mental health. The way parents communicate with their children, set family rules, manage conflict, provide emotional support and encourage healthy habits can influence adolescents' wellbeing. However, parenting programmes that help parents reduce the risk of depression and anxiety in adolescents are limited in Pakistan. This study aims to address this gap by adapting and evaluating an online parenting programme called Partners in Parenting (PiP) for families in Pakistan. Hence, the aim is to find out whether the culturally adapted PiP programme can reduce the risk of depression and anxiety among adolescents and improve parenting practices and parent-adolescent relationships. We will also explore whether the programme is acceptable, easy to use and helpful for Pakistani families, and whether it provides good value for the resources required to deliver it. First, we will work with adolescents, parents, grandparents, teachers and health professionals to understand their experiences and views about adolescent mental health and parenting in Pakistan. Their feedback will be used to make PiP culturally appropriate and relevant to Pakistani families. People with lived experience of adolescent mental health difficulties will also be involved throughout the adaptation process. The study will then evaluate the adapted programme with 1,300 parent-adolescent pairs across eight cities in Pakistan: Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Qambar Shahdad Kot, Larkana and Sukkur. Fami