Surfing for youth mental health: A randomised wait-list controlled trial

INTERVENTION: The intervention is a 6‐week mentor‐lead surf therapy program, provided to youth who have been referred due to vulnerabilities to a range of mental health problems. Children participating in the intervention will attend one 2‐hour surf therapy session, every weekend for six consecutive weekends. Children are provided with required surf material (surfboard and wetsuit). Prior to intervention commencement, children are matched to a surf‐mentor based on their referring presentation and the surf‐mentors experience and characteristics. Children will receive one‐on‐one surf instruction and mentorship throughout the program with the same mentor while learning to surf alongside a small group of 10‐12 children. On a backdrop of learning to surf, the focus of this mentorship is to help children develop a secure relationship with their mentor and a sense of belonging and connectedness to the group, while also learning social skills, teamwork, perseverance in the face of challenge, psychological flexibility, and self‐regulation. This is achieved through upholding the identified values laid out by Ocean Mind at the outset of the program and ongoing conversation between child and surf‐mentor, as well as social support provided by the larger group. It is hypothesized that the mentor‐child relationship and surf group setting will provide the appropriate context to develop these skills, which in turn will lead to improvements in symptoms of anxiety and depression and behavioural conduct problems, as well as social connectedness, self‐confidence and community engagement. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored via program attendance log and surf mentor weekly logs. The pace and goals of the program are participant led and individualised to each young person, and depend on the surf skills of the child and referring presentation. Throughout the intervention participants can choose to work 1:1 with their mentor, or they can become more involved with the w CONDITION: Depression;Anxiety;Behavioural problems (conduct, hyperactivity); ; Depression ; Anxiety ; Behavioural problems (conduct, hyperactivity) Mental Health ‐ Anxiety Mental Health ‐ Depression Mental Health ‐ Other mental health disorders PRIMARY OUTCOME: Change in Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale–Short version ‐ Anxiety scale[Baseline, 6 weeks (primary time point), 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Change in Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale–Short version ‐ Depression scale[Baseline, 6 weeks (primary time point), 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Change in Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Internalising and Externalising symptom subscales[Baseline, 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks] SECONDARY OUTCOME: Change in Self‐Description Questionnaire Short‐Form (Global and Physical Abilities subscales)[Baseline, 6 weeks (secondary timepoint), 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Change in the Connectedness to Nature Short Inventory[Baseline, 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Emotion regulation, integration with family, linkages to the community, goal setting, problem‐solving and time management assessed via the Youth Experiences Survey (YES) 2.0[6 weeks , 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Social Climate and Social Identification assessed with an adapted version of the School Climate and Social Identity measure ; ; [6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks] Social support assessed via the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.[6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks] INCLUSION CRITERIA: Age 8 to 18 years Referred by a professional in the community (e.g. psychologist, school counsellor) Ability to communicate in English