Effectiveness of a CERDAS App-Based Peer-Counselor Intervention in Improving Adolescent Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Mental health problems in adolescents continue to increase, while interest in seeking professional help remains low due to stigma, limited access, and low openness to guidance and counseling teachers. This condition indicates the need for a more appropriate approach for adolescents, such as peer counselors who are considered more equal, safe, and able to encourage openness. To support this, the CERDAS application was developed as a peer counseling medium that facilitates initial screening and provides promotive-preventive intervention techniques to improve adolescent mental health. The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of the use of the CERDAS application, which utilizes a peer-counselor approach, in improving adolescent mental health status. The research design was an experiment with a pre- and post-test control group design. The population in this study were all second-grade students at MAN 3 Banda Aceh City and SMAN 13 Banda Aceh City. Sampling was taken by simple random sampling with a sample of 116 respondents, then divided into two groups: a control group of 58 respondents and an intervention group of 58 respondents. The intervention will be provided by peer counselors who have received counseling training and are not included in the study respondents. Meanwhile, the control group only received counseling services from the guidance counselor. Pre-tests and post-tests were conducted on both groups to identify the mental health status of adolescents. Data analysis using Mann-whitney u tests showed that there were differences score in the mental status of adolescents in the control group and the intervention group before and after the intervention. The results of the study found that the CERDAS application with a peer-counselor approach was effective in improving the mental health status of adolescents including anxiety, stress, and depression (p-value 0.001; 0.021; 0.014). It is hoped that the CERDAS application can be implemented more widely in school health services as a promotional and preventive effort for adolescent mental health.