Wellbeing Through Remote Storytelling: A Digital Arts Intervention for Indian Adolescents During Pandemic Isolation

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the most significant global health crises of modern times, with wide-ranging impacts on mental health, particularly for adolescents. This study was conducted to find the answer to the question: What is the impact of a remote storytelling intervention delivered through Interactive Voice Response System on the mental well-being of 10th-grade students experiencing stress due to school closures during the pandemic? The intervention aimed to address the psychosocial distress among adolescents in Tamil Nadu caused by school closures and pandemic-related isolation, using an innovative, remote storytelling approach. Over 30 days, the intervention leveraged narrative techniques and guided activities to support mental wellbeing for a sample of 9,728 class 10 students from government and aided schools. Methods: A quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design was used, with mental wellbeing evaluated through the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale and in-depth personal interviews. Results: The intervention resulted in a significant improvement in the mental wellbeing of participants [t (9728) = 4.49, p < 0.01], particularly in areas such as relaxation, social connectedness, and decision-making ability. Conclusion: The findings highlight the potential of remote storytelling interventions to address mental health challenges during public health crises, offering a scalable and accessible solution for promoting adolescent wellbeing.