This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based mental health education
program in preventing adolescent suicide attempts in an impoverished urban area in Peru, as part of
an Official Development Assistance project by the Korea International Cooperation Agency. The
PRECEDE-PROCEED model informed the effectiveness study. In this intervention, the participants
were first to fifth grade students in public secondary schools. The pre-post intervention survey was
conducted with a stratified random sampling method. A sample of 768 and 738 students in
experimental and control groups was analyzed comparatively, using chi-squared tests and logistic
regression. This study found that the program had a positive effect on adolescent mental healthrelated risk behaviors and suicide attempts in the experimental group compared to the control group.
Thus, the intervention may have helped prevent the increase in mental health-related risk behaviors
and suicide attempts. Further, parental affection, when included in the intervention, had a significant
effect on suicide attempts. As such, the involvement of parental affection in the intervention might be
effective in preventing suicide attempts. To enhance the effectiveness of interventions aiming to
prevent adolescent suicide, the participation and attention of parents, as well as adolescents, must be
encouraged. Further, to maintain the effectiveness of the intervention and expand coverage to other
schools in the neighborhood, a strategy for project sustainability is needed, particularly with regards
to capacity-building in schools and communities.
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