scholarly journals Feasibility of the Positive Thoughts and Actions Prevention Program for Middle Schoolers at Risk for Depression

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn A. McCarty ◽  
Heather D. Violette ◽  
Elizabeth McCauley

Despite the importance of adolescent depression, few school-based prevention programs have been developed and tested in the United States with middle school populations. This study examined the acceptability and changes in targeted outcomes for a new preventative program, Positive Thoughts and Actions (PTA). Sixty-seven 7th grade students with elevated depressive symptoms were recruited from public schools and randomized to the 12-week PTA program with a parent-component or to a school-as-usual control group. The PTA prevention program was well received by students and parents, yielding high rates of participation and satisfaction among those randomized to receive the intervention. However, analyses of the efficacy of the program in changing depressive symptoms were not significant. In terms of our proximal program targets, most differences were not statistically significant, though effect sizes suggested advantage of PTA over control group in coping, cognitive style, and parent-child communication. This preliminary research highlights a need for further testing of programs for school-based prevention of depression and promotion of positive emotional health.

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernilla Garmy ◽  
Eva K. Clausson ◽  
Agneta Berg ◽  
Katarina Steen Carlsson ◽  
Ulf Jakobsson

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and cost-utility of a school-based cognitive–behavioral (CB) depression prevention program. Methods: A quasi-experimental trial with an intervention group and a control group, with follow-up measurements obtained at three and 12 months after baseline, was conducted. The setting was six Swedish municipalities. The participants were students in grade 8 (median age: 14). A total of 462 students (79% girls) were allocated to the school-based CB prevention program, and 486 students (46% girls) were allocated to the control group. The school-based CB prevention program, Depression in Swedish Adolescents (DISA), was presented by school health service staff and teachers once per week for 10 weeks. Results: The main outcome measures were self-reported depressive symptoms and self-rated health; the secondary outcome measures were adherence and cost-utility. The intervention group decreased their self-reported depressive symptoms (as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) and improved their self-rated health (as measured by the visual analog scale) at the 12-month follow-up more than the control group ( p < .05). Conclusions: Given the challenges of conducting a study in a complex, everyday school setting with baseline differences between the intervention and control group, it is difficult to make accurate interpretations of the effectiveness of the intervention. However, with these limitations in mind, the results indicate that the DISA program is a feasible school-based prevention program.


2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Pattison ◽  
Robert M. Lynd-Stevenson

AbstractThe ability of a school-based program with training in both cognitive and social skills to prevent depressive symptoms in children (the Penn Prevention Program) was evaluated. Research conducted in Australia has failed to replicate the success of the program in the United States. Also evaluated was the ability of the program to reduce the symptoms of anxiety, the assumption that changes in social skills and cognitive style would be associated with changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety, and the relative merits of the cognitive and social components of the program. Sixty-three children in fifth and sixth grades were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. There was no evidence that the Penn Prevention Program had any impact on the variables measured at the end of the program or at the 8-month follow-up assessment. Limitations and implications of the present findings are discussed.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saharsh Agarwal ◽  
Ananya Sen

In this paper, we examine the impact of racially charged events on the demand for antiracist classroom resources in U.S. public schools. We use book requests made by teachers on DonorsChoose, the largest crowdfunding platform for public school teachers, as a measure of intent to address race-related topics in the classroom. We use the precise timing of high-profile police brutality and other racially charged events in the United States (2010–2020) to identify their effect on antiracism requests relative to a control group. We find a significant increase in antiracism requests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020 and a null effect for all other events in the decade. We also find an increase in requests for books featuring Latinx, Asian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures, suggesting that a focus on equality for one group can spill over and yield culturally aware dialogues for other groups as well. Event studies suggest that local protests played a role in motivating some of the teachers to post these requests. In just four months following George Floyd’s death, $3.4 million worth of books featuring authors and characters from marginalized communities were successfully funded, reaching more than half a million students. Text analysis of impact notes posted by teachers suggests that hundreds of thousands of young students are being engaged in discussions about positive affirmation and cross-cultural acceptance. This paper was accepted by D.J. Wu, information systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2333794X1988419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Love ◽  
Nirmita Panchal ◽  
John Schlitt ◽  
Caroline Behr ◽  
Samira Soleimanpour

Telehealth is a growing model of delivering health care. School-based health centers (SBHCs) provide access to health care for youth in schools and increasingly use telehealth in care delivery. This article examines the recent growth of telehealth use in SBHCs, and characteristics of SBHCs using telehealth, including provider types, operational characteristics, and schools and students served. The percentage of SBHCs using telehealth grew from 7% in 2007-2008 to 19% in 2016-2017. Over 1 million students in over 1800 public schools have access to an SBHC using telehealth, which represents 2% of students and nearly 2% of public schools in the United States. These SBHCs are primarily in rural communities and sponsored by hospitals. This growing model presents an opportunity to expand health care access to youth, particularly in underserved areas in the United States and globally. Further research is needed to fully describe how telehealth programs are implemented in school settings and their potential impacts.


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collin Andrew Webster ◽  
Naoki Suzuki

The uptake of policies and recommendations to promote physical activity (PA) in American schools has been slow. It can be useful to investigate international contexts where school-based PA promotion has had more success and consider whether facilitative factors have transferability to American schools. This study employed a social ecological perspective to examine the school-based PA opportunities for Grade 2 students in Japan and the factors influencing these opportunities. Observations in five public schools, relevant documents, and interviews with teachers, principals, and district and ministry officials were analyzed using constant comparison. Findings showed multiple PA opportunities existed in daily routines and throughout the year. Government policy had a downstream influence on all lower levels of the education system. Many of the PA opportunities Japanese schools provided align with American recommendations, but different educational priorities between Japan and the United States might make implementing these opportunities more challenging in American schools.


Author(s):  
Siti Fatimah Ab Ghaffar ◽  
Sherina Mohd Sidik ◽  
Normala Ibrahim ◽  
Hamidin Awang ◽  
Lekhraj Rampal Gyanchand Rampal

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Leila H. Shatara ◽  
Maysaa Barakat ◽  
Mounir Bourkiza

With a growing number of faith-based private schools, charter schools, and public schools divided along ethnic and racial lines, the school system in the United States is becoming more segregated. This study aims to examine the reasons some Muslim parents choose Islamic schools over other school options and aspires to inform district and school-based administrators of what could be done to make public schools more responsive to the needs of Muslim students.


10.18060/89 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Franklin

This article discusses the information on school social work practice in the United States and summarizes recent trends and their implications for the future of school social work. The number of school social workers and current infrastructure available for the development of school social work practice is reviewed. Five sociocultural trends are summarized that are affecting public schools as well as important school-based practice trends such as standardized testing, and high stakes accountability measures. The emerging practice trend of evidence-based practices is discussed in light of its standards and implications for school-based practice. Finally, essential knowledge for strengthening practice competencies to meet the future challenges of school-based practice is highlight.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Woods ◽  
Paul E. Jose

AbstractThis study set out to determine the efficacy of a school-based early intervention program (the Kiwi ACE program) with Māori and Pacific adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms. A large group (N = 419) of Māori and Pacific students (average age 14 years) was screened for depressive symptoms and, from a pool of students scoring greater than 63 on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), 56 students were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. After attrition, the final sample constituted 24 young people after one year. The intervention comprised eight 90-minute sessions conducted in school time. Students were taught to more fully understand the relationships between thinking, feeling and behaviour, to challenge beliefs and to solve interpersonal problems. At immediate posttest (p = .045) and at one-year follow-up (p < .001) a significant effect for condition was obtained: the intervention group reported lower depressive symptoms. Efficacy of the intervention was supported by qualitative data obtained from focus groups. Further controlled trials on a larger scale are recommended to establish the durability and generalisability of the effects of program participation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document