A Universal Mental Health Promotion Programme for Young People in Italy

Abstract

In Italy, the Mental Health Unit of the National Institute of Public Health has developed a school-based mental health programme based on a structured handbook. The aim of this programme is to promote self-efficacy, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of this programme. We used data from 308 students who participated in a study in 9 Italian high schools during the 2011-2012 school year. In order to analyse the school intervention programme, we set up a pre-post test design study involving 18 classrooms (8 of which acting as a control). The schools were selected via a snowball technique, and then the classrooms that agreed to participate were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The programme was performed during regular school hours in one-hour a week sessions for a total of 20 hours of classroom time. Assessments before and 2 months after the programme were performed using Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy, Satisfaction With Life, and Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales. The results showed an improvement in self-efficacy in regulating negative affect, overall psychological well-being, and satisfaction with life. These results demonstrate that the programme produced significant positive effects on the mental health status of participating students.

Promoting Mental Health in Italian Middle and High School: A Pilot Study

“…This study, like the previous ones conducted by the same team [ 5 , 21 , 29 ], confirms that school is an important setting for the promotion of mental health [ 30 ] and that these initiatives can be successful if (a) they are structured and evidence-based [ 31 ]; (b) they are directed towards changing behavioural aspects related to specific objectives that take into account the everyday life of the student in relation to the family environment and the surrounding community [ 10 ]; (c) they encourage greater sharing among students of both aspects of the curricular goals and personal/interpersonal growth [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…Promoting positive mental health may provide young people with the necessary life skills and resources to accomplish their potential and to deal with adversity [ 3 ]. School is one of the most important contexts for this initiative [ 3 , 4 ] especially if the health promotion programmes are those undertaken as part of school activities that improve social and life skills [ 5 – 7 ]. Life skills [ 7 , 8 ] are psychosocial competencies that help people to be more aware in the process of decision-making, solving problems, thinking critically and creatively, communicating effectively, developing safe relationships, understanding the emotions of others, and managing their lives in a healthy and productive manner; the most important are self-efficacy, problem-solving, empathy, and coping strategies [ 9 ].…”

“…Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of handbook's implementation [ 5 , 20 ]. The results were positive but were not considered by the authors as satisfactory as they expected; they found it was necessary to include a notebook to stimulate homework that had been neglected by the students, allowing students to assiduously apply and consolidate skills outside the classroom.…”

Components of School-Based Interventions Stimulating Students’ Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Domains: A Meta-analysis

“…We focused on a broad range of outcomes for two reasons. First, many school-based interventions aim to enhance multiple aspects of students' development (e.g., promoting self-efficacy, psychological wellbeing, and life satisfaction: Gigantesco et al 2015; bullying, aggression, and wellbeing across various domains: Bonell et al 2018). We wanted to align with this approach in our meta-analysis.…”

Promocija mentalnog zdravlja i prevencija mentalnih poremećaja kod djece i adolescenata – sistematičan pregled literature

“…Nastavnici također moraju pružiti emocionalnu podršku te prihvatiti odgovornost koja se stavlja pred njih. 31,32 u toj dobi, važna je edukacija roditelja i djece. Unaprijed izrađeni planovi prevencije omogućuju direktno djelovanje na rizične čimbenike na koje se može utjecati, kao što su adekvatan odgoj djece, uravnoteženi obiteljski odnosi, izbjegavanje djece izloženosti fizičkom, emocionalnom i seksualnom zlostavljanju te osiguranje potpore i sigurne okoline u školi.…”