Research Areas

Youth mental health, Maternal mental health, prevention and treatment of common mental problems, task-sharing, development and trials of psychosocial interventions,

Profile

Dr. Wezi Mhango Chisiza is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Malawi with over 10 years of experience in teaching and mental health research. Her research focuses on using participatory and co-design methods to develop culturally appropriate interventions for common mental health problems among youth and perinatal populations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. She joined the University of Malawi in 2015 as an Assistant Lecturer in Psychology. Following the completion of her MSc in Clinical and Health Psychology from Bangor University in 2017, she was appointed as a Lecturer in Psychology. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Sussex, UK, awarded in 2024. Her doctoral research involved the co-design and development of an intervention for perinatal common mental health problems among pregnant adolescents in Malawi.

Publications

• Journal Article
  Mollel, E. D., Mhango, W., Sodi, T., Levita, L., & Gaysina, D. (2026). Psychosocial interventions for depression and anxiety for female adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa: a protocol for the systematic literature review and lived experience synthesis. Systematic reviews, 15(1), 108. (2026)
  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-026-03126-9

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• Journal Article
  Mhango, W., Michelson, D. & Gaysina, D. (2025). Co-designing the FOotpaths foR Adolescent Maternal Mental HeAlth (FOR MAMA) intervention for pregnant teens in Malawi. International Health, 17, 4, 573-582 (2025)
  https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihaf007

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• Book Chapters
  Mhango-Chisiza, W. (2025). Using participatory strategies to develop a culturally appropriate mental health intervention for pregnant adolescents in Malawi. In Chisiza, Z (Ed.). Theatre and media for social change in Malawi. Routledge (2025)
  https:doi.org//10.4324/9781003648437-16

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• Journal Article
  Mhango, W., Crowter, L., Michelson, D., & Gaysina, D. (2024). Psychoeducation as an active ingredient for interventions for perinatal depression and anxiety in youth: a mixed-method systematic literature review and lived experience synthesis. BJPsych Open, 10(1), e10 (2024)
  https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.614

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• Journal Article
  Mhango W., Michelson D. & Gaysina, D. Feasibility and acceptability of FOotpaths foR Adolescent MAternal Mental HeAlth (FOR MAMA): a co-designed intervention for pregnant adolescents in Malawi. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, 11, e97 (2024)
  https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2024.76

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• Journal Article
  Mhango, W., Michelson, D., & Gaysina, D. (2023). “I felt I needed help, but I did not get any”: A multiple stakeholder qualitative study of risk and protective factors, and barriers to addressing common mental health problems among perinatal adolescents in Malawi. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, 10, e73 (2023)
  https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2023.64

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• Book Chapters
  Jamu, E., Lamba, T. & Mhango W. (2021). The social psychology of disability in higher education: Examining the experiential dimension of disablement in Malawi. In Manthalu, C., Chikaipa, V. & Gunde, A. (Eds.). Education, Communication and Democracy in Africa: A Democratic Pedagogy for the Future. UK: Routledge (2021)
  https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003125440-15/social-psychology-disability-higher-education-edister-jamu-tilinao-lamba-wezi-mhango

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