A preliminary evaluation of the Confident Kids Program – a stand alone component of the Exploring Together Program

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Confident Kids Program, as a separate component of the multi-group Exploring Together Program (ETP). Confident Kids aims to reduce children's behavioural and emotional difficulties through a group program for primary school children that meets once weekly for 10 weeks. This report presents an analysis of pre-post data collected from 39 parents whose children attended the Confident Kids programs and 48 teachers in the state of Victoria. Following the program, significant improvements were noted in parent reports of children's internalising and externalising difficulties, levels of parenting satisfaction and parenting styles. Teachers also reported a significant improvement in children's internalising behaviour from pre-to post-program. The benefits of offering both multi-group and single component interventions in school and community settings are also discussed.

A pilot investigation of universal school‐based prevention programs for anxiety and depression symptomology in children: A randomized controlled trial

“…Outcomes for comorbid anxiety and depression tend to be poorer than those of a singular condition, with greater impairment, longer duration of symptomology, and poorer response to treatment (Feske, Frank, Kupfer, Shear, & Weaver, 1998). Given the significant impact of childhood mental health disorders, several manualised intervention programs (e.g., Coping Cat, Confident Kids, and the FRIENDS program) have been developed to improve the mental health of young people; these have shown good outcomes for reducing anxiety, as well as internalizing and externalising behaviors in children (Barrett & Turner, 2001; McNally Keehn, Lincoln, Brown, & Chavira, 2013; Trinder, Soltys, & Burke, 2008).…”

Outcomes of an Early Intervention Program for Children with Disruptive Behaviour

“…The manualized program was the Cool At School Together (CAST) program and is available from the first author. It was modified from the Confident Kids program 32 to suit this population group.…”