Hedges’ g effect sizes were calculated for pre- to post-intervention changes in each of the mental health parameters. Anxiety and depression symptoms were evaluated using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Scales, which assess mood over the past 7 days. Respondents rate each item from “not at all” to “a lot” using a 5-point scale, and sub-scores for personal and relationship-based resilience are summed to obtain a total resilience score.
Students, parents, and school personnel mentioned a need for qualified mental health providers to provide mental health interventions in schools, noting they should have training and experience with both the intervention and local community. Parents and teachers also underscored how “kids now are really strong” despite dealing with stressors such as intergenerational poverty, violence, homelessness, and bullying, and that it was important to frame the program in a way that capitalized on the strengths that contribute to students’ resilience. We’re at the lunch room, we’re handing out candy…, they– and, you know, students are like, that’s my therapist, right?
School-based strategies
Consistent with national trends,21 these school-level indicators were significantly different across student race/ethnicity (results not shown). Schools collect student race/ethnic identity from the parent/guardian who enrolled the student in public school. The study sample is representative of TEA enrollment data across age, sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; there is little evidence of non-response bias at baseline. Findings from this study can inform future research examining minority stress processes in educational settings and educational policy as schools are projected to become more ethnically diverse over the next century despite stagnant improvements in educational integration.21 Greater NL-White density increases mental health risk for NL-Black and low-stress Latinx students, while school diversity lowers risk for high-stress Latinx students.
2.7 Intervention description
Relying solely on a medical understanding limits the scope of assessment and ignores the impact of various factors on an individual’s mental health (McLaughlin and https://www.umaryland.edu/counseling/self-help-resources/student-parents-or-pregnant/ Boettcher, 2009). An inclusive approach considers the interplay between these factors to comprehensively understand the individual’s needs and provide effective support (Farrell and Venables, 2009; Sameroff, 2009). This is in line with a biopsychosocial model that recognizes that biological, psychological and social factors interact to influence an individual’s well-being (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). An inclusive approach to mental health acknowledges that individuals are part of complex systems that interact and influence each other (Hick et al., 2009). There are essential principles for implementing an inclusive mental health approach in higher education. This framework emphasizes the importance of considering multiple factors influencing an individual’s well-being, including social, cultural, biological and psychological factors (Hick et al., 2009).
Anxiety
- The professionals mainly provided individual mental health services, which can be individualistic and overlook clients’ social and cultural context.
- In addition to completing the MHLA-c, all participants reported their age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and current year of study.
- Greater NL-White density increases mental health risk for NL-Black and low-stress Latinx students, while school diversity lowers risk for high-stress Latinx students.
- A systematic review that contributes to answering such questions will be useful to policy-makers in the U.S. and European contexts focused on school enrollment, education, and mental health of adolescents.
- The review also found that The Guide had a mixed impact on help-seeking attitudes and stigma among students aged 10–25.
Participants in our study were highly concerned about the role of social media in contributing to youth mental health outcomes. Although cognitive-behavioral interventions do not directly address social determinants of health, it was important for us to weave in examples throughout sessions that presented skills in the broader context of students’ daily lived experiences. These comments highlighted the extraordinarily challenging life circumstances of students in our partnering schools. Overall, these findings provided the basis for our adapted transdiagnostic school-based intervention, U-PEACE, and may be applied more broadly to the delivery and implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions in diverse school settings.