Feasibility and Acceptability of a School-Based Coping Intervention for Latina Adolescents

Abstract

Latino girls (Latinas) experience disproportionate rates of emotional distress, including suicidal ideation, which may be indicative of inadequate coping abilities. Prevention of mental health problems, a U.S. public health priority, is particularly critical for Latina adolescents due to lack of access to mental health treatments. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of Project Wings, a 14-session stress management/coping intervention. Latinas in school (ages 15-21) met weekly for 2-hr with two bilingual experienced facilitators to participate in sharing circles, relaxation exercise, and skill building. Intervention participation and post-intervention focus group data were analyzed. Fall semester intervention (n = 10) occurred during school (72% attendance rate); spring semester intervention (n = 11) was after school (84% attendance rate). Focus group data confirmed acceptability. Latina adolescents will participate in a school-based, group-based stress management/coping intervention. The findings offer insights about intervention recruitment and retention that are specifically relevant to school nurses. Future research includes intervention testing using a randomized study design.Keywords adolescent girls; Latina; school-based intervention; mental health; coping; prevention In the United States, adolescents are demonstrating mental health problems that portend problematic trajectories into adulthood (Knopf, Park, & Mulye, 2008). By high school, nearly 40% of ninth-grade Latino females (Latinas) are reporting they have experienced depressive symptoms or suicidal ideations in the past year compared to 20% of non-Latino ninth-grade girls (Grunbaum et al., 2004;Garcia, Skay, Sieving, Naughton, & Bearinger, 2008). Latinas report more symptoms of emotional distress compared to their non-Latino female peers and to Latino males. These mental health problems have immediate and future consequences. In the short term, youth with depressive symptoms are at greater risk of suicidal ideation and social isolation, including high school dropout (Center for Mental Health in Schools, 2007). Latina high school students are twice as likely as their female peers in other racial and ethnic groups to drop out of high school, and up to 40% of Latino students, boys and girls, are not completing high school (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004 Leading adolescent health researchers have established guiding principles for intervention success. These are grounded in promoting healthy youth development and include being strength-based, competence-focused, and relationship-centered (Bernat & Resnick, 2006;Rodriguez & Morrobel, 2004). Using these principles, we developed Project Wings, a mental health promotion intervention to increase the coping repertoire available to Latina adolescents. The purpose of this article is to discuss the participant characteristics, feasibility, and acceptability of Project Wings, a school-based coping intervention for girls. MethodA pre and post intervention, single group design was used with ...

Developing a model of mental health self-care support for children and young people through an integrated evaluation of available types of provision involving systematic review, meta-analysis and case study

“…The relationship with the therapist/agent appeared to be important, even to the point of the individual expertise and personal qualities of the agent being more important than the intervention itself (most evident in Garcia 2010, 152 Gowers 2010 71 and Ma 2008 155 ). On the other hand, in one of the studies (Coyle 2009 148 ), the intervention -a facilitated computer game -appeared to be much more appealing than the agent, and the agents, perhaps unsurprisingly, tended to be generally less positive about the intervention than the young people using it.…”

“…Garraway 2010; 153 Kennedy 2008 154 ) and were acquired via a variety of practical methods including homework tasks, workbooks and skills practice, but they might all be loosely termed as behavioural and/or emotional self-management. Peer support also seemed to be an important aspect of the self-care support intervention, being identified in over half of the studies (Eacott 2008; 149 Friars 2007; 150 Fristad 1998; 151 Garcia 2010; 152 Garraway 2010; 153 Kennedy 2008; 154 Zucker 2005 157 ). Peer support provided the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other participants -an experience that could provide normalisation, increased emotional support and decreased isolation, and which attenuated feelings of being 'different'.…”

“…Our initial pool of 33 studies with nominally qualitative data contained 17 studies in which participants' views on self-care support interventions were obtained from open-ended questions on a satisfaction survey, conducted as part of a controlled or uncontrolled trial; 12 qualitative (focus group or interview) studies; and four service evaluations. Of these, 11 qualitative studies, 71,100,147,149,150,152,[153][154][155][156][157] one service evaluation 148 and one study with data from an open-ended satisfaction survey 151 met our quality criteria.…”

“…Fristad 1998 151 ) to coping skills (e.g. Eacott 2008; 149 Garcia 2010; 152 Mishara 2006 156 ) to communication skills (e.g. Garraway 2010; 153 Kennedy 2008 154 ) and were acquired via a variety of practical methods including homework tasks, workbooks and skills practice, but they might all be loosely termed as behavioural and/or emotional self-management.…”

“…The 13 included papers comprised three British studies (Garraway 2010; 153 Gowers 2010; 71 Stewart-Brown 2004 100 ), four from the USA, 151,152,154,157 two from Australia, 149,150 and one each from Jamaica, 147 Ireland, 148 Hong Kong 155 and Denmark in collaboration with Lithuania. 156 A range of mental health conditions were covered: four considered general mental health conditions (where a specific condition was not 149,151 and one psychosis.…”