Do universal school-based mental health promotion programmes improve the mental health and emotional well-being of young people? : a literature review

O'Connor, Clare A.; Dyson, Judith; Cowdell, Fiona; Watson, Roger

Abstract

Aim To examine evidence—using a range of outcomes— for the effectiveness of school-based mental health and emotional well-being programmes. Background It is estimated that 20% of young people experience mental health difficulties every year. Schools have been identified as an appropriate setting for providing mental health and emotional well-being promotion prompting the need to determine whether current school-based programmes are effective in improving the mental health and emotional well-being of young people. Methods A systematic search was conducted using the health and education databases, which identified 29 studies that measured the effectiveness of school-based universal interventions. PRISMA guidelines were used during the literature review process. Results Thematic analysis generated three key themes: i) help seeking and coping; ii) social and emotional well-being; and iii) psycho-educational effectiveness. Conclusion It is concluded that whilst these studies show promising results there is a need for further robust evaluative studies to guide future practice.

Citation

O'Connor, C. A., Dyson, J., Cowdell, F., & Watson, R. (2018). Do universal school-based mental health promotion programmes improve the mental health and emotional well-being of young people? : a literature review. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(3-4), e412-e426. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14078

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Sep 7, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Oct 23, 2017
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 19, 2018
• Journal: Journal of clinical nursing
• Print ISSN: 0962-1067
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2702
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: e412-e426
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14078
• Keywords: Mental health, Emotional well-being, Young people, Schools, Psycho-education, Help-seeking, Coping, Social skills, Help-seeking, Health promotion interventions
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/454645
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocn.14078/abstract
• Additional Information: This is a description of an article published in: Journal of clinical nursing, 2017.