Effects on coping skills and anxiety of a universal school-based mental health intervention delivered in Scottish primary schools

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are common in children and may signal risk of depression, social or academic difficulties. This study evaluated the effects of a universal mental health promotion intervention delivered in primary schools. Three hundred and seventeen 9 to10 year olds were randomly allocated by class group to intervention condition (psychologist-led or teacher-led), or comparison condition. Coping and anxiety were measured pre- and post-intervention and at six month follow-up. Significant anxiety reduction and improved coping were found post-intervention and at follow-up. There were no significant differences between the teacher- and psychologist-led intervention groups. Results indicated that a universal school programme delivered by teachers can have positive effects on anxiety and coping

Do universal school‐based mental health promotion programmes improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people? A literature review

“…Help‐seeking and coping skills were identified as outcome measures in 14 of the 29 studies. Reduction in stress postintervention was reported by nine authors (Campion & Rocco, ; De Anda, ; De Villers & Van Den Berg, ; De Wolfe & Saunders, ; Hampel, Meier, & Kummel, ; Kraag, Van Breukelen, Kok, & Hosman, ; Kuyken et al., ; Metz et al., ; Schonert‐Reichl et al., ), whilst five (Collins, Marks Woolfson, & Durkin, ; King, Strunk, & Sorter, ; Merrell, Juskelis, Tran, & Buchanan, ; Mishara & Ystgaard, ; Rickwood, Cavanagh, Curtis, & Sakrouge, ) found no improvement. Four authors (De Anda, ; Kraag et al., ; Merrell et al., ; and Mishara & Ystgaard, ) reported increases in the coping skills and strategies used by children that received interventions.…”

Depression, Anxiety at School and Self-Esteem in Children with Learning Disabilities

“…It's widely accepted how complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors affect the onset and the maintenance of depressive symptoms [6,16,17]. Nevertheless, this symptomatology would differently manifest depending on the gender and the age.…”

“…In this field, Steca et al [17], highlighted the role of self-esteem; when pupils face a challenging or threatening task aimed at evaluating their competences, a low self-worth may affect their mood. However, a low self-worth can obstacle social relationships with classmates by encouraging feelings of isolation and depressed behaviors.…”

SEARCH: A Meta-Framework and Review of the Field of Positive Education

“…With respect to other wellbeing outcomes, coping skills interventions were shown to increase social skills (Mishara and Ystgaard 2006), assertiveness (Schinke et al 1987) and self-efficacy (Frydenberg et al 2004, Study 3). The interventions were also found to decrease anxiety (Collins et al 2014), reduce behavioural problems and reduce social problems (Mishara and Ystgaard 2006;Monkeviciene et al 2006). However, the researchers found no significant effects on self-esteem (Schinke et al 1987), emotional symptoms (Holen et al 2012) peer relations (Schinke et al 1987) and prosocial behaviour (Holen et al 2012).…”

“…Holen et al (2012) found a significant increase in parent-rated (but not self-rated) active coping for intervention children and decreased oppositional coping, but no effects for emotional regulation or withdrawal coping. Other programs found students who completed a coping intervention generated significantly more problem-solving options (Schinke et al 1987), and significant decreases in avoidance coping and significant increases in problem-solving and seeking social support, relative to a control groups (Collins et al 2014).…”