Effects of the Dutch Skills for Life program on the health behavior, bullying, and suicidal ideation of secondary school students

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of the Dutch “Skills for Life” programme on students’ health behaviours, bullying behaviour and suicidal ideation. Design/methodology/approach – The effectiveness of the “Skills for Life” programme on health behaviour outcomes was evaluated at three points in time in using a cluster randomized controlled study design with a follow-up of 20 months. In total, 27 schools and 1,394 students were included. Findings – The programme was judged to be well implemented in just under half of cases. The outcome results for the experimental group (EG) compared with controls present a complex picture at the three different time points used for evaluation. There was a clearly positive effect on levels of alcohol consumption and a clearly negative effect on smoking across time. There was a mixed picture over time for suicide ideation and for bullying including sexual bullying (although the prevalence rates for bullying were low and thus results should be treated with caution). There were generally more positive impacts on students with lower educational levels including less suicidal ideation and less bullying. Research limitations/implications – Limitations were the dropping out of several schools during the study and the low level of fidelity of the curriculum. Social emotional learning (SEL) programs can be part of a health promoting school framework but should be more tailored to disadvantaged school populations. Originality/value – The findings indicate that students with a less optimal starting position, when it comes to health related behaviours, benefit most from a SEL programme. This indicates that schools with disadvantaged school populations could benefit most from a Health Promoting School approach.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Interventions to Decrease Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization

“…Among programs that aim to increase skill-building, training delivery modality varies widely. Some programs like Skills for Life (Fekkes et al, 2016 ) and Relationships to Grow (Guarini et al, 2019 ) use tools such as role-play exercises, video and live demonstrative modeling, vignette discussion, and feedback embedded in a greater curriculum. NoTrap!…”

Effectiveness of school‐based programs to reduce bullying perpetration and victimization: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The program is based on social learning theory and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. As a result, the program aims to reduce bullying by enabling students to learn from each other in a classroom setting through behavioral modeling.The program is implemented by teachers, who attend two 3-day training workshops prior to implementation and receive "booster" training sessions throughout the intervention(Fekkes et al, 2016).The intervention is comprised of 25 lessons that are delivered over the course of two academic years. First, four lessons address awareness and handling of thoughts and feelings.…”

Is There a Hole in the Whole-School Approach? A Critical Review of Curriculum Understanding in Bullying Research

“…In the Take the Lead programme examined by Domino (2013), teachers were trained by external trainers for a minimum of six hours to deliver a curriculum designed to enhance students' social learning during regular class periods. Fekkes et al (2016) also found teachers were extensively trained in the principles and ideas of the Skills for Life curriculum to deliver 25 lessons over two school years.…”

“…In line with this, several studies emphasise teacher training (Cross et al, 2018;Haataja et al, 2014;Wurf, 2012), for example Haataja et al (2014, p. 567) who describe a two-day pre-implementation training programme for teachers responsible for delivering lessons or for managing acute cases of bullying. Concern for curriculum delivery was also evident in the emphasis on implementation manuals (Battey & Ebbeck, 2013;Bonell et al, 2018;Domino, 2013;Fekkes et al, 2016), as demonstrated by (Cross et al, 2018) who described a six-hour group training session for pastoral care staff complemented by "a manual to guide whole-school implementation" (p. 501).…”

“…Drawing on Elgström and Hellstenius (2011), bullying research can also be seen as conveying a curriculum narrative. Many studies (Cecil & Molnar-Main, 2015;Fekkes et al, 2016;Haataja et al, 2014;Wurf, 2012) in the programme category advocate an evidence-based approach to bullying prevention. Wurf (2012), for instance, has claimed that "whole-school approaches have been internationally recognised as the best evidence-based method to reduce school bullying" (Wurf, 2012, p. 139).…”