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Impact of a secondary school depression prevention curriculum on adolescent social-emotional skills: evaluation of the resilient families program

journal contribution
posted on 2019-06-01, 00:00 authored by Nikita Singh, Matin G Minaie, David SkvarcDavid Skvarc, John ToumbourouJohn Toumbourou
School-based mental health intervention programs have demonstrated efficacy for the prevention and reduction of depressive symptoms, though the effect tends to be variable and is often unsustained longitudinally. However, it is possible that these intervention programs may have an indirect impact on adolescent functioning via positive mediators, and that this influence may predict more durable protective benefits. This study evaluated the efficacy of the Resilient Families program for improving social-emotional skills and depressive symptoms for adolescents over a two-year period. Twenty-four secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia were randomly allocated to either Resilient Families or a control condition. 1826 students (M= 12.3, SD = .05 years at W1; 56% female) completed the curricula and subsequent surveys. Inconsistent with hypotheses, analysis with Structural Equation Modelling revealed that the program had no significant effect on social-emotional skills and these skills had no significant effects on adolescent depressive symptoms. However, family attendance at parent education events within the intervention schools was associated with longitudinal reductions in depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of increasing emphasis on family and community protective factors in adolescent social-emotional development and depression prevention programs.

History

Journal

Journal of youth and adolescence

Volume

48

Issue

6

Pagination

1100 - 1115

Publisher

Springer

Location

New York, N.Y.

eISSN

1573-6601

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature