Prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: 42 and 54 months follow-up of the Aussie Optimism Program-Positive Thinking Skills

Johnstone, Julie; Rooney, Rosanna; Hassan, Shari Abu; Kane, Robert

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00364

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In contrast, a universal school-based anxiety prevention program conducted in Australia showed inconsistent findings with this study, where there was no significant reduction in anxiety scores between the intervention and control groups at 30 months post-intervention [28]. The long-term effects were also measured, and no significant reduction in anxiety score between the groups was obtained at 42-and 54-month follow-ups [29]. This may be due to the content of the intervention modules and the method of delivery.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Effect of a School-Based Anxiety Prevention Program among Primary School Children

Ghaffar

Sidik

Ibrahim

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in childhood, and children with anxiety have an increased risk of psychiatric disorders during adulthood. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based anxiety prevention program for reducing anxiety among primary school students relative to a school-as-usual control group. Secondary to this, the current study aimed to examine the effect of a school-based prevention program on worry coping skills and self-esteem. A two-group parallel cluster randomized controlled trial of a single-blinded study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, with schools as the unit of allocation and individual participants as the unit of analysis. The intervention program was conducted between May 2016 and December 2017. The primary outcome was anxiety, whereas the secondary outcomes were worry coping skills and self-esteem measured at three months post-intervention. Data were analyzed by using a generalized linear mixed model, accounting for the clustering effect. Subgroup analyses were performed for children with anxiety. A total of 461 students participated in this study. At baseline, there was no significant difference between groups for anxiety score, worry coping skills score, and self-esteem score (p > 0.05). The intervention was effective in reducing anxiety for the whole sample (p = 0.001) and the anxiety subgroup (p = 0.001). However, it was not effective in improving worry coping skills and self-esteem. These findings suggest that the program could be effective for reducing symptoms of anxiety when delivered in schools and provide some support for delivering this type of program in primary school settings.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Effect of a School-Based Anxiety Prevention Program among Primary School Children

Ghaffar

Sidik

Ibrahim

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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“…The majority of prevention programs for internalizing disorders have targeted older children (e.g., middle or later primary years; Barrett and Turner, 2001; Lowry-Webster et al, 2001; Quayle et al, 2001; Roberts et al, 2003, 2004; Rooney et al, 2006, 2013a,b; Fox et al, 2012; Johnstone et al, 2014; Myles-Pallister et al, 2014). There are comparatively few prevention programs specifically targeting internalizing disorders in younger children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventing Internalizing Problems in 6–8 Year Old Children: A Universal School-Based Program

et al. 2016

Self Cite

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The Aussie Optimism Program: Feelings and Friends (AOP-FF) is a 10 week, universal mental health promotion program based on social/emotional and cognitive and behavioral strategies. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of a universal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based program in preventing and reducing internalizing problems in 6–8 year olds (Years 1–3 in Australia). Year 1–3 students from a low SES primary school (N = 206) were randomly assigned in classes to either an intervention or a control group and assessed at baseline and post-test. Results showed a significant (p = 0.009) and small to moderate (partial eta-squared = 0.034) pre-post decrease in parent-reported anxiety symptoms for the intervention group, in conjunction with a non-significant (p = 0.708) and negligible (partial eta-squared = 0.001) pre-post increase for the control group. A larger randomized controlled trial assessing longer term effects is needed. In addition the program needs to be simplified for year 1–2 students with a separate more developmentally appropriate program for year 3 students.

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“…Gillham and colleagues (2006) reported positive effects of the PRP on an optimistic explanatory style, for up to 2 years. Although children in grades 4-5 who participated in AOP-PTS experienced an immediate reduction in depressive symptomology, positive effects on symptoms or attribution style were not evident at 42-and 54-month follow-up (Johnstone et al 2014). Elementary school students' immature cognitive development was identified as a potential barrier to sustained improvements, indicating that children likely experienced difficulty engaging in abstract cognitive tasks independently.…”

Section: Exploratory Researchmentioning

confidence: 77%

Increasing Elementary School Students’ Subjective Well-Being Through a Classwide Positive Psychology Intervention: Results of a Pilot Study

Suldo

Hearon

Bander

et al. 2015

Contemp School Psychol

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There is growing interest in school-based programs to promote students' subjective well-being (SWB). Students with greater SWB tend to have stronger relationships with their teachers and classmates, as well as behave in more positive ways. Drawing from theory and research pertinent to promoting children's SWB, we developed an 11-session classwide positive psychology intervention that targeted elementary school students' novel use of character strengths, gratitude, kindness, and relationships in the classroom. Throughout a pilot study, children in fourth grade experienced clinically meaningful lasting gains in multiple indicators of SWB, particularly positive affect and satisfaction with self, but no changes in distal indicators of behavioral student engagement (attendance, office disciplinary referrals). This initial application by school psychologists partnering with a classroom teacher provides evidence of promise that elementary school children can benefit from participation in universal positive psychology interventions that target internal assets (gratitude, kindness, and signature strengths) and environmental resources (student-teacher and peer relationships).Keywords Elementary school children . Positive psychology interventions . Classwide implementation . Subjective well-being Mental health is increasingly viewed as a complete state of being, consisting not merely of the absence of psychopathology, but also the presence of positive indicators of subjective well-being (SWB; Keyes 2009). Within a positive psychology approach, SWB is often used as an indicator of the complete range of psychological functioning, from miserable to content to flourishing. Researchers interested in happiness often define it as SWB, a multidimensional construct conceptualized as having cognitive and affective aspects (Diener et al. 2009). The cognitive aspect is indicated by life satisfaction judgments-global appraisals of the quality of one's life overall or in regard to specific domains of life. The affective aspects involve how often a person experiences positive emotions (e.g., delight, pride, and zest) and negative emotions (e.g., sadness and anger). People with high SWB judge their life to be going well on the whole and experience more frequent positive than negative emotions on a daily basis. Studies with children (Greenspoon and Saklofske 2001) and adolescents (Suldo and Shaffer 2008) find that youth with the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes have both minimal symptoms of psychopathology and high SWB (i.e., complete mental health). Thus, comprehensive mental health services entail both the prevention and amelioration of psychopathology, and the promotion of SWB. However, the science of how to increase SWB through school-based intervention strategies pales in comparison to knowledge of how to treat psychopathology.As explicated in a 2013 joint report from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the process of developing an educational intervention generally st...

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Prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: 42 and 54 months follow-up of the Aussie Optimism Program-Positive Thinking Skills

Cited by 23 publications

References 70 publications

Effect of a School-Based Anxiety Prevention Program among Primary School Children

Effect of a School-Based Anxiety Prevention Program among Primary School Children

Preventing Internalizing Problems in 6–8 Year Old Children: A Universal School-Based Program

Increasing Elementary School Students’ Subjective Well-Being Through a Classwide Positive Psychology Intervention: Results of a Pilot Study

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