Abstract
BACKGROUND: The goal of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the Social Emotional Learning program Skills 4 Life on mental health and its risk factors self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social interaction skills in students of secondary schools. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled study was conducted, including 38 schools (66 classes; grades 7 to 9) for secondary education, with a 1 year and 20 months follow-up (teachers and students reports). RESULTS: The intervention was effective in improving self-efficacy, depressive symptoms, and teacher-reported psychological problem behavior, all after 20 months. Stratified analyses showed effects in mainly lower educational level students. CONCLUSION: The Skills 4 Life curriculum is effective in improving the mental health and self-efficacy among adolescents, especially for adolescents from lower educational level, a group that is most prone to ill mental health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 587-595 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of School Health |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
Funding
aResearch Scientist, ([email protected]), Department of Child Health, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), P.O. Box 3005, 2301 DA Leiden, The Netherlands. bResearch Scientist, ([email protected]), Department of Child Health, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), P.O. Box 3005, 2301 DA Leiden, The Netherlands. cProfessor of Youth and Development, ([email protected]), University of Applied Sciences, The Hague Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, 2521 EN Den Haag, The Netherlands. dProfessor of Applied Social Sciences Parenthood, ([email protected]), Leiden University of Applied Sciences, Zernikedreef 11, 2333 CK Leiden, The Netherlands. eResearch Scientist, ([email protected]), Department of Child Health, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), P.O. Box 3005, 2301 DA Leiden, The Netherlands. fAssistant Professor, ([email protected]), Utrecht University, Social Sciences, Methodology & Statistics, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. gResearch Scientist, ([email protected]), Department of Child Health, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), P.O. Box 3005, 2301 DA Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. This study was funded by ZonMw, grant no. 62300045. The study was approved by the internal review board of The Netherlands Organization for applied scientific research (TNO; project 011.75115/01.01) and submitted for approval to the Committee Medical Ethics of the Leiden University Medical Center. Medical ethical approval was not required under the Dutch act on Medical Research Involving Human Subjects.
Keywords
- adolescent
- effect evaluation
- mental health
- prevention
- school program
