School Based Prevention Programs

Last updated

School-based prevention programs aim to enhance student success by providing school-wide education, skills training, and support. These programs focus on developing interpersonal and communication skills, increasing self-awareness, and addressing risk factors that contribute to harmful behaviors.

Contents

Overview

Preventing mental health problems and promoting healthy behavior among youth has become a critical policy issue; [1] it is estimated that 50% students will be identified with a mental health disorder by the age of 14. [2] The Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health stated the importance of fostering a solid emotional foundation in children in order to facilitate learning. [3] However, children and families face significant barriers to accessing and receiving community-based mental health services. [4] As a result, schools have been identified as ideal avenues through which to reach youth. [5] Universal prevention programs are offered to the general population, while selective prevention programs are intended for groups identified as at risk for developing a problem. [6] This differentiates them from intervention or treatment programs, which are intended for individuals who already have a problem or meet criteria for a disorder.

Approaches

A number of school-based programs have been developed to target specific outcomes, such as reducing incidences of bullying, substance use, and antisocial behavior. [7] [8] [9] Others have been designed to foster positive youth development [10] and improve academic performance. [11] While each of these programs focuses on distinct issues and outcomes, research suggests that in adolescent-focused initiatives integrating training in communication skills, problem solving, insight building, and assertiveness training will bring improvements to multiple issues. [12] These results suggest that certain core skills may be critical to seemingly disparate desired outcomes, which may have implications for clinical decision making as well as policy.

A comprehensive meta-analysis of 213 school-based prevention programs focused on promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) evaluated their impact across six key domains: social and emotional skills, attitudes toward oneself and others, positive social behaviors, conduct problems, emotional distress, and academic performance. The study revealed that SEL programs had significant and positive effects across all six domains, underscoring the broad, multifaceted impact of these programs. Specifically, students participating in SEL programs demonstrated improvements in their ability to manage emotions, build strong relationships, and exhibit prosocial behaviors. Additionally, there were reductions in conduct problems and emotional distress, as well as improvements in overall academic performance. These findings emphasize the value of universal, school-based prevention programs in fostering both personal and academic growth, suggesting that implementing SEL curricula in schools can have far-reaching benefits not just for individual students, but for the overall school climate as well.

The use of evidence-based programs has been shown to improve outcomes [13] with research that suggests combining implementation of multiple programs into one comprehensive strategy achieves greater success overall. [2] [5] Prevention programs that are delivered over multiple years and that involve support from the local community are also more likely to lead to better outcomes and are the most-cost effective way to deliver prevention. [14] [13]

Challenges

While 59% of schools in the U.S. report having programs that foster children’s social and emotional needs, [15] evidence-based initiatives have not been widely implemented. Schools may be unaware of the evidenced-based programs that are available, reflecting the gap between research and practice. Schools that are aware of effective programs may lack funding necessary to implement the program. Should schools receive funding for implementation, research shows that programs are often poorly implemented, resulting in low fidelity and weak outcomes. [16] Additionally, some prevention programs may not be a good fit with the local context and may require tailoring. Finally, schools may struggle to sustain programs due to limited resources and support.

Despite these challenges, recent efforts have been made to bridge the gap between research and practice in school-based prevention programs. Organizations and policymakers have started to focus on providing schools with better access to resources, including training, technical support, and funding opportunities to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based programs. Additionally, there has been a growing recognition of the need to customize interventions to fit the specific needs of individual schools and communities. By adapting programs to local contexts, schools may be able to improve program implementation and sustainability. However, ensuring long-term success requires collaboration between educators, policymakers, and researchers to create a system that supports ongoing professional development, funding allocation, and program adaptation to meet evolving student needs.

Implementation strategies

While there are significant challenges to implementing evidence-based prevention programs into school settings, there are strategies to increase the success of introducing and sustaining such programs. [17] These strategies include assigning highly committed individuals as project directors or coordinators; encouraging support and cooperation from school administrators, community members and principals; motivating and gaining the support and enthusiasm of teachers; training which will provide knowledge, skills, and desire to continue further; retraining a few years after to reinforce knowledge and continue the commitment of the teacher or school; and gathering feedback to provide instructors with how to improve their skills [14]

Properly implemented programs are likelier to have good outcomes, which may incentivize policymakers to allocate more funding to these initiatives. Including explicit cost-benefit analysis should be considered when designing programs. [18] Having more structure in the program and implementation process - from training to materials to supervision - may also be beneficial and lead to sustainment. [19]

Furthermore, building strong community partnerships can enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of these programs. Collaboration with local organizations, mental health professionals, and parents can ensure that the programs are culturally relevant, address specific local needs, and are integrated into the broader school and community context. By fostering a network of support, schools can create a more robust infrastructure for long-term success.

Further reading

[20] [21] [22] [23]

SAMSHA's Evidence-Based Practices Resource Center provides information, links to current research and best practices on a range of issues including mental health and drug prevention, treatment, and recovery programs.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anger management</span> Therapy for anger prevention and control

Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully. Anger is frequently a result of frustration, or of feeling blocked or thwarted from something the subject feels is important. Anger can also be a defensive response to underlying fear or feelings of vulnerability or powerlessness. Anger management programs consider anger to be a motivation caused by an identifiable reason which can be logically analyzed and addressed.

School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. It is an area of applied psychology practiced by a school psychologist. They often collaborate with educators, families, school leaders, community members, and other professionals to create safe and supportive school environments.

School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff and attacks by school staff on students. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons to school. The one or more perpetrators typically have more physical, social, and/or psychological power than the victim. It is a widely accepted serious societal problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide prevention</span> Collective efforts to reduce the incidence of suicide

Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public health problem that can have long-lasting effects on individuals, families, and communities. Preventing suicide requires strategies at all levels of society. This includes prevention and protective strategies for individuals, families, and communities. Suicide can be prevented by learning the warning signs, promoting prevention and resilience, and committing to social change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positive youth development</span>

Positive youth development (PYD) programs are designed to optimize youth developmental progress. This is sought through a positivistic approach that emphasizes the inherent potential, strengths, and capabilities youth hold. PYD differs from other approaches within youth development work in that it rejects an emphasis on trying to correct what is considered wrong with children's behavior or development, renouncing a problem-oriented lens. Instead, it seeks to cultivate various personal assets and external contexts known to be important to human development.

Workplace wellness, also known as corporate wellbeing outside the United States, is a broad term used to describe activities, programs, and/or organizational policies designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace. This often involves health education, medical screenings, weight management programs, and onsite fitness programs or facilities. It can also include flex-time for exercise, providing onsite kitchen and eating areas, offering healthy food options in vending machines, holding "walk and talk" meetings, and offering financial and other incentives for participation.

An at-risk student is a term used in the United States to describe a student who requires temporary or ongoing intervention in order to succeed academically. At risk students, sometimes referred to as at-risk youth or at-promise youth, are also adolescents who are less likely to transition successfully into adulthood and achieve economic self-sufficiency. Characteristics of at-risk students include emotional or behavioral problems, truancy, low academic performance, showing a lack of interest for academics, and expressing a disconnection from the school environment. A school's effort to at-risk students is essential. For example, a study showed that 80% to 87% of variables that led to a school's retention are predictable with linear modeling. In January 2020, Governor Newsom of California changed all references to "at-risk" to "at-promise" in the California Penal Codes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Residential treatment center</span> Live-in healthcare facility

A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a rehab, is a live-in health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral problems. Residential treatment may be considered the "last-ditch" approach to treating abnormal psychology or psychopathology.

Parent management training (PMT), also known as behavioral parent training (BPT) or simply parent training, is a family of treatment programs that aims to change parenting behaviors, teaching parents positive reinforcement methods for improving pre-school and school-age children's behavior problems.

Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. Among youth, attempting suicide is more common among girls; however, boys are more likely to actually perform suicide. For example, in Australia suicide is second only to motor vehicle accidents as its leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communities That Care</span>

Communities That Care (CTC) is a program of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in the office of the United States Government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CTC is a coalition-based prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors such as violence, delinquency, school drop out and substance abuse. Using strategic consultation, training, and research-based tools, CTC is designed to help community stakeholders and decision makers understand and apply information about risk and protective factors, and programs that are proven to make a difference in promoting healthy youth development, in order to most effectively address the specific issues facing their community's youth.

Multisystemic therapy (MST) is an intense, family-focused and community-based treatment program for juveniles with serious criminal offenses who are possibly abusing substances. It is also a therapy strategy to teach their families how to foster their success in recovery.

The FRIENDS Programs are a series of Resilience programs developed by Professor Paula Barrett. The programs aim to increase social and emotional skills, promote resilience, and preventing anxiety and depression across the lifespan. As a prevention protocol, FRIENDS has been noted as “one of the most robustly-supported programmes for internalising disorders,” with “a number of large-scale type 1 randomised control trials worldwide” demonstrating its effectiveness. The FRIENDS programs are acknowledged by the World Health Organization as effective evidence based prevention programs.

School-based family counseling (SBFC) is an integrated approach to mental health intervention that focuses on both school and family in order to help children overcome personal problems and succeed at school. SBFC is practiced by a wide variety of mental health professionals, including: psychologists, social workers, school counselors, psychiatrists, and marriage and family therapists, as well as special education teachers. What they all share in common is the belief that children who are struggling in school can be best helped by interventions that link family and school. SBFC is typically practiced at the school site, but may be based in a community mental health agency that works in close collaboration with schools.

Risky sexual behavior is the description of the activity that will increase the probability that a person engaging in sexual activity with another person infected with a sexually transmitted infection will be infected, become unintentionally pregnant, or make a partner pregnant. It can mean two similar things: the behavior itself, and the description of the partner's behavior.

Education sector responses to substance abuse refers to the way in which the education sector strategizes, developments and implements policies and practices that address the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs in educational settings.

Prevention of mental disorders are measures that try to decrease the chances of a mental disorder occurring. A 2004 WHO report stated that "prevention of these disorders is obviously one of the most effective ways to reduce the disease burden." The 2011 European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on prevention of mental disorders states "There is considerable evidence that various psychiatric conditions can be prevented through the implementation of effective evidence-based interventions." A 2011 UK Department of Health report on the economic case for mental health promotion and mental illness prevention found that "many interventions are outstandingly good value for money, low in cost and often become self-financing over time, saving public expenditure". In 2016, the National Institute of Mental Health re-affirmed prevention as a research priority area.

Social emotional development represents a specific domain of child development. It is a gradual, integrative process through which children acquire the capacity to understand, experience, express, and manage emotions and to develop meaningful relationships with others. As such, social emotional development encompasses a large range of skills and constructs, including, but not limited to: self-awareness, joint attention, play, theory of mind, self-esteem, emotion regulation, friendships, and identity development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social–emotional learning</span> Education practice

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an educational method that aims to foster social and emotional skills within school curricula. SEL is also referred to as "social-emotional learning," "socio-emotional learning," or "social–emotional literacy." In common practice, SEL emphasizes social and emotional skills to the same degree as other subjects, such as math, science, and reading. Furthermore, SEL emphasizes an importance upon preparing students to become knowledgeable, responsible, and caring members of society when they reach adulthood.

Trauma-informed approaches in education (TIE) are educational techniques that acknowledge the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and other traumas on students and attempt to mitigate the widespread impact of such trauma. By adopting trauma-informed principles, educational organizations aim to create a supportive environment that facilitates learning and promotes the emotional well-being of students. Trauma-informed education is referred to with varying terminology.

References

  1. ↑ "The Study of Implementation in School-Based Preventive Interventions: Theory, Research, and Practice (Volume 3)" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 Baffsky, Rachel; Ivers, Rebecca; Cullen, Patricia; Wang, Jessica; McGillivray, Lauren; Torok, Michelle (2023-02-01). "Strategies for Enhancing the Implementation of Universal Mental Health Prevention Programs in Schools: A Systematic Review". Prevention Science. 24 (2): 337–352. doi:10.1007/s11121-022-01434-9. ISSN   1573-6695. PMC   9938015 . PMID   36098892.
  3. ↑ U.S. Public Health Service, 2000, p. 3
  4. ↑ KAZDIN, ALAN E. (Oct 1997). "Parent Management Training: Evidence, Outcomes, and Issues". Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 36 (10): 1349–1356. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199710000-00016 . PMID   9334547.
  5. 1 2 Domitrovich, Celene E.; Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Embry, Dennis; Poduska, Jeanne M.; Ialongo, Nicholas S. (January 2010). "Integrated models of school-based prevention: Logic and theory". Psychology in the Schools. 47 (1): 71–88. doi:10.1002/pits.20452. ISSN   0033-3085. PMC   4865396 . PMID   27182089.
  6. ↑ Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities.
  7. ↑ Lösel, Friedrich; Beelmann, Andreas (2003-05-01). "Effects of Child Skills Training in Preventing Antisocial Behavior: A Systematic Review of Randomized Evaluations". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 587 (1): 84–109. doi:10.1177/0002716202250793. ISSN   0002-7162.
  8. ↑ Tobler, Nancy S.; Roona, Michael R.; Ochshorn, Peter; Marshall, Diana G.; Streke, Andrei V.; Stackpole, Kimberly M. (2000). "School-Based Adolescent Drug Prevention Programs: 1998 Meta-Analysis". Journal of Primary Prevention. 20 (4): 275–336. doi:10.1023/A:1021314704811. ISSN   0278-095X.
  9. ↑ "NIDA Study Shows School-Based Prevention Program Reduces Problem Behaviors in Fifth-Graders by Half". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2015-08-30. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  10. ↑ Catalano, Richard F.; Berglund, M. Lisa; Ryan, Jean A. M.; Lonczak, Heather S.; Hawkins, J. David (2004-01-01). "Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 591 (1): 98–124. doi:10.1177/0002716203260102. ISSN   0002-7162.
  11. ↑ "Learning influences". Psychology and Educational Practice. 1997.
  12. ↑ Boustani, Maya M.; Frazier, Stacy L.; Becker, Kimberly D.; Bechor, Michele; Dinizulu, Sonya M.; Hedemann, Erin R.; Ogle, Robert R.; Pasalich, Dave S. (2014-02-07). "Common Elements of Adolescent Prevention Programs: Minimizing Burden While Maximizing Reach". Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 42 (2): 209–219. doi:10.1007/s10488-014-0541-9. ISSN   0894-587X. PMID   24504979.
  13. 1 2 Fishbein, Diana H.; Sloboda, Zili (2023-03-01). "A National Strategy for Preventing Substance and Opioid Use Disorders Through Evidence-Based Prevention Programming that Fosters Healthy Outcomes in Our Youth". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 26 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1007/s10567-022-00420-5. ISSN   1573-2827. PMC   9768412 . PMID   36542196.
  14. 1 2 Greenberg, Mark T.; Weissberg, Roger P.; O'Brien, Mary Utne; Zins, Joseph E.; Fredericks, Linda; Resnik, Hank; Elias, Maurice J. (June 2003). "Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning". American Psychologist. 58 (6–7): 466–474. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.6-7.466. ISSN   1935-990X. PMID   12971193.
  15. ↑ Foster, Susan; Rollefson, Mary; Doksum, Teresa; Noonan, Denise; Robinson, Gail; Teich, Judith (2004-11-30). School Mental Health Services in the United States, 2002-2003. SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI).
  16. ↑ Gottfredson, Denise C.; Gottfredson, Gary D. (2002-02-01). "Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 39 (1): 3–35. doi:10.1177/002242780203900101. ISSN   0022-4278.
  17. ↑ Fagan, Abigail A.; Mihalic, Sharon (2003). "Strategies for Enhancing the Adoption of School-Based Prevention Programs: Lessons Learned from the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Replications of the Life Skills Training Program". Journal of Community Psychology. 31 (3): 235–253. doi:10.1002/jcop.10045.
  18. ↑ "Benefits and Costs of Prevention and Early Intervention Programs for Youth" (PDF).
  19. ↑ Gottfredson, Denise C.; Gottfredson, Gary D. (2002-02-01). "Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 39 (1): 3–35. doi:10.1177/002242780203900101. ISSN   0022-4278.
  20. ↑ Evans, Caroline B.R.; Fraser, Mark W.; Cotter, Katie L. (2014). "The effectiveness of school-based bullying prevention programs: A systematic review". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 19 (5): 532–544. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.004.
  21. ↑ Gottfredson, D; Gottfredson, G (2002). "Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey". Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 39: 3–35. doi:10.1177/002242780203900101.
  22. ↑ Pentz, Mary Ann (2014). "Integrating Mindfuldness into School-Based Substance Use and Other Prevention Programs". Substance Use and Misuse. 49 (5): 617–619. doi:10.3109/10826084.2014.879796. PMID   24611859.
  23. ↑ Zenzen, Wanda; Kridli, Suha (July 2009). "Integrative Review of School-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention". Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 23 (4): 242–258. doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2008.04.008. PMID   19559992.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.