Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mental Health Literacy Education on Sleep Disturbance and Suicidal Ideation Among Senior Secondary School Students in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mental Health Literacy Education (MHLE) on sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation among senior secondary school students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. Sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation are increasingly recognised as causally linked through shared pathways of rumination and cognitive hyperarousal, yet evidence-based intervention research addressing both outcomes concurrently in low- and middle-income country school settings remains critically limited. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was employed. A purposive sample of 54 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) students (27 males, 27 females) meeting clinical screening thresholds for both conditions was drawn from three public secondary schools across the AMAC, Bwari, and Gwagwalada Area Councils of the FCT. Participants were randomly assigned to MBCT (n = 18), MHLE (n = 18), or a waitlist control condition (n = 18). Both interventions were delivered over 12 weeks in structured weekly group sessions. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) served as validated outcome measures...