BackgroundThis systematic review provides a narrative synthesis of the evidence on the effectiveness of mental health promotion interventions for young people in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Commissioned by the WHO, a review of the evidence for mental health promotion interventions across the lifespan from early years to adulthood was conducted. This paper reports on the findings for interventions promoting the positive mental health of young people (aged 6–18 years) in school and community-based settings.MethodsSearching a range of electronic databases, 22 studies employing RCTs (N = 11) and quasi-experimental designs conducted in LMICs since 2000 were identified. Fourteen studies of school-based interventions implemented in eight LMICs were reviewed; seven of which included interventions for children living in areas of armed conflict and six interventions of multicomponent lifeskills and resilience training. Eight studies evaluating out-of-school community interventions for adolescents were identified in five countries. Using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) criteria, two reviewers independently assessed the quality of the evidence.ResultsThe findings from the majority of the school-based interventions are strong. Structured universal interventions for children living in conflict areas indicate generally significant positive effects on students’ emotional and behavioural wellbeing, including improved self-esteem and coping skills. However, mixed results were also reported, including differential effects for gender and age groups, and two studies reported nonsignficant findings. The majority of the school-based lifeskills and resilience programmes received a moderate quality rating, with findings indicating positive effects on students’ self-esteem, motivation and self-efficacy. The quality of evidence from the community-based interventions for adolescents was moderate to strong with promising findings concerning the potential of multicomponent interventions to impact on youth mental health and social wellbeing.ConclusionsThe review findings indicate that interventions promoting the mental health of young people can be implemented effectively in LMIC school and community settings with moderate to strong evidence of their impact on both positive and negative mental health outcomes. There is a paucity of evidence relating to interventions for younger children in LMIC primary schools. Evidence for the scaling up and sustainability of mental health promotion interventions in LMICs needs to be strengthened.

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This article presents findings from a meta-analysis which sought to determine the effectiveness of interventions adopting a whole school approach to enhancing children and young people's social and emotional development. Whole school interventions were included if they involved a coordinated set of activities across curriculum teaching, school ethos and environment, and family and community partnerships. A total of 45 studies (30 interventions) involving 496,299 participants were included in the analysis. Post-intervention outcomes demonstrated significant but small improvements in participants' social and emotional adjustment (d = 0.220), behavioural adjustment (d = 0.134), and internalising symptoms (d = 0.109). Interventions were not shown to impact on academic achievement. Origin of study and the inclusion of a community component as part of a whole school approach were found to be significant moderators for social and emotional outcomes. Further research is required to determine the active ingredients of whole school interventions that we can better understand the components necessary to achieve successful outcomes.

Purpose: This paper provides a critical perspective on the international evidence on promoting young people's social and emotional wellbeing in schools. The challenges of integrating evidence-based interventions within schools are discussed and the need for innovative approaches to research and practice are considered in order to support more sustainable approaches that can be embedded into the everyday practice of school systems. Approach: A common elements approach to intervention development and implementation is explored. A case study is presented on piloting this approach with post-primary students, based on consultations with students and teachers concerning their needs in supporting youth social and emotional wellbeing. Findings: The integration and sustainability of evidence-based social and emotional skills programmes within the context of whole school systems is far from clearly established. Research on the use of a common elements approach to evidence-based treatment and youth prevention programmes is presented and the application of this method to the development and implementation of social and emotional learning interventions is considered. Preliminary case study findings are presented exploring this approach in school-based intervention development for post-primary school students. 2 Research limitations/implications: The potential of adopting a common elements approach is considered, however, more rigorous research is needed to identify the most potent strategies for social and emotional skills development. Originality /value: Identifying a common set of evidence-based strategies for enhancing adolescents' social and emotional skills could lead to innovative approaches to intervention delivery that would extend the impact and reach of evidence-based practice across diverse educational systems and school settings.

To investigate what keeps teachers motivated on a day-to-day basis, we traced the importance of routinely encountered affective episodes. Significant research on emotions already highlights the relative importance of positive versus negative episodes, the importance of perceived origins of events and the need to differentiate between the frequency and affective intensity of episodes. Survey reports from 749 recently qualified primary teachers in Ireland strongly suggest the absence of positive experiences undermines commitment and efficacy rather than the occurrence of negative events. Furthermore, while remote structural factors may heavily influence teaching, it is the perception of events at micro-level that impinge most strongly on motivation. Finally, the importance of particular experiences was, crucially, more related to their frequency than intensity. A major implication for teachers' job satisfaction is the suggestion that while adverse episodes may be inevitably experienced, positive events (that occur independently of negative ones) fortify motivation and resilience. IntroductionChildren showed greater understanding of the concepts involved in recycling and composting…some told how they got their parents to recycle…I felt that their learning was worthwhile and how teaching can really make a difference.A child completed a sentence scrambling exercise, recalling words learned since last September, completely and independently. I felt the work was paying off.In the staff-room, a teacher made a remark that some of my previous class cannot read…I feel so worried that I didn't do enough for them…was my teaching good enough? Is it good enough at the moment? Are children losing out by being in my class?*Corresponding author. University College Cork, Department of Education, Cork, Ireland. Email: k.kitching@ucc.ie An earlier version of this paper was presented at the AERA annual meeting, Chicago, April 2007. We did some standardised tests to identify children needing learning support. I did play down the importance of the tests but…one child got really upset as she couldn't do it all. I felt terrible that I would put a child in a situation where they felt stressed or inadequate. (extracts from diary of teacher satisfaction/dissatisfaction of SP, a 2nd grade teacher, for a week in late January 2006)The extant literature goes to great lengths to document the reasons why people enter teaching-as well as on the important factors influencing teacher retention-but gives very little information on the influences that sustain teachers on a daily basis. There is considerable evidence from the US that teachers enter teaching for reasons to do with the intrinsic nature of the work: including 'making a difference', 'doing work they will enjoy' and 'enhancing lives of children ' (Shipp, 1999;Farkas et al., 2000). With regard to teacher retention, US data indicate that the absence of support structures (Johnson & Birkeland, 2003), low influence on their work and poor leadership (Stockhard & Lehman, 2004) and low earnings (G...