Effectiveness of a universal school-based intervention for reducing internalizing problems in irish primary school children: A cluster randomized control trial
Aoife Clancy, Martin O’Connor, Eddie Murphy, L. Connaughton, Gary O’Reilly
{"title":"Effectiveness of a universal school-based intervention for reducing internalizing problems in irish primary school children: A cluster randomized control trial","authors":"Aoife Clancy, Martin O’Connor, Eddie Murphy, L. Connaughton, Gary O’Reilly","doi":"10.1177/01430343231216971","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health concerns in youth, with rates of these internalizing problems continuing to rise. Universal school-based interventions have shown promising results in improving poor mental health outcomes; however, more research is needed across different cultural contexts. This study is part of an ongoing evaluation of A Lust for Life Schools Programme, a universal process-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for Irish primary school children. This study investigated the efficacy of the program through a cluster randomized controlled trial. Nine schools were randomly allocated to the intervention or control groups. Four hundred and seventy participants completed measures at three timepoints (baseline, post-intervention, and 6-week follow-up) assessing internalizing problems, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (primary outcomes) and avoidance, problem-solving, seeking social support, academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and emotional self-efficacy (secondary outcomes). Although participants reported that they were mostly satisfied with the intervention, results revealed that the intervention did not have a significant effect on the outcome variables compared to the control group. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47723,"journal":{"name":"School Psychology International","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"School Psychology International","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01430343231216971","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health concerns in youth, with rates of these internalizing problems continuing to rise. Universal school-based interventions have shown promising results in improving poor mental health outcomes; however, more research is needed across different cultural contexts. This study is part of an ongoing evaluation of A Lust for Life Schools Programme, a universal process-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for Irish primary school children. This study investigated the efficacy of the program through a cluster randomized controlled trial. Nine schools were randomly allocated to the intervention or control groups. Four hundred and seventy participants completed measures at three timepoints (baseline, post-intervention, and 6-week follow-up) assessing internalizing problems, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (primary outcomes) and avoidance, problem-solving, seeking social support, academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and emotional self-efficacy (secondary outcomes). Although participants reported that they were mostly satisfied with the intervention, results revealed that the intervention did not have a significant effect on the outcome variables compared to the control group. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.
期刊介绍:
The official publication of the ISPA. School Psychology International highlights the concerns of those who provide quality mental health, educational, therapeutic and support services to schools and their communities throughout the world. The Journal publishes a wide range of original empirical research, cross-cultural replications of promising procedures and descriptions of technology transfer