PREPARED

PREPARED, the PREvention Program for Adolescent Relationship and Emotional Development, addresses adolescent mental health and relationship violence together rather than as separate problems, an approach that has rarely been tested in sub-Saharan Africa. Savannah Johnson co-created the program with a 13-member community advisory board in Muhuru Bay, a rural fishing community on Lake Victoria, during her doctoral work in this lab. Six weekly sessions teach young people to recognize and manage their own emotions and then apply those skills within their relationships. Near-peer facilitators ages 20 to 25, none of whom had prior mental health training, led the sessions.

A proof-of-concept study enrolled 46 adolescents ages 14 to 17 across two settings, a secondary school and a lakeside fishing hall selected by the advisory board so that adolescents not enrolled in school could take part. The program proved feasible and acceptable in both. Facilitators delivered the sessions with 98 percent fidelity, demonstrating that near-peer providers can carry the intervention as designed. Immediately following the program, adolescents showed improved well-being, fewer depressive symptoms, and lower psychological distress. At a two-year follow-up, reductions in physical intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration were also found. A larger trial is the next step.

Johnson, S. L., Rasmussen, J. M., Bielskis, M., Falls, A., Hamisi, H. Z., Owity, O. J., & Puffer, E. S. (2026). The PREvention Program for Adolescent Relationship and Emotional Development (PREPARED): A proof-of-concept study. BMC Public Health, 26, 1320.

Johnson, S. L., Hamisi, H. Z., Owity, O. J., Ochieng, Y. A., Goel, P., Bielskis, M., & Puffer, E. S. (2025). The intersection of mental health and intimate partner violence among adolescents in Kenya: A qualitative study. Violence Against Women.

Johnson, S. L., Rasmussen, J. M., Mansoor, M., Ibrahim, H., Rono, W., Goel, P., et al. (2024). Correlates of intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration in adolescents and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.