Evaluation of a School-based Programme Aimed at Promoting Well-being in Adolescents

The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate a universal school-based multi-component intervention whose target is to build well-being and emotional resilience in adolescents.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Resilience, Psychological; Adolescent Well-Being
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: A Lust for Life; Behavioral: Waiting list control

Detailed Description

Adolescence is an important developmental phase for prevention and intervention initiatives for well-being and mental health. Accordingly, school has been recommended as an optimal location for such initiatives. Universal programmes - programmes that are designated for all individuals in a population - have a number of advantages, including reducing the risk of stigma and yielding high recruitment rates.

A Lust for Life is a universal school-based multi-component intervention whose target is to build well-being and emotional resilience in adolescents. The programme was informed by evidence-based psychological approaches including cognitive behaviour therapy, positive psychology and mindfulness and consists of six lessons, each delivered by the adolescents' school teacher on a weekly basis. The lessons involve classroom discussions, videos, classroom activities and homework assignments.

Study participants will complete the Adolescent Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, Emotional Literacy and Intervention Inventory-Pupil Checklist, and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale for Children at pre-intervention. Following this, schools randomly assigned to the experimental group will receive A Lust for Life, while those randomly assigned to the control group will be placed on a twelve-week waiting list. The questionnaire measures and a Brief Satisfaction Scale will be completed by participants at post-intervention. In addition, a six-week follow-up assessment will determine whether the effects of the programme are sustained over a period of time. The programme will be delivered in the waiting list control group schools after the six-week follow-up assessment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 604
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Ireland
  • Leinster
    • Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
      • University College Dublin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 19 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescent
• Enrolled in primary school in Ireland
• Obtain written informed consent from parents/guardians
• Provide written assent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Failure to the meet inclusion criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: A Lust for Life programme group; A Lust for Life programme will be delivered to adolescents by their school teachers in six weekly lessons. Well-being and resilience will be promoted in each lesson through classroom discussions, videos, classroom activities and homework assignments.	Behavioral: A Lust for Life; A Lust for Life is a universal school-based multi-component programme whose target is to build well-being and emotional resilience in adolescents. The programme was informed by evidence-based psychological approaches including mindfulness, cognitive behaviour therapy and positive psychology. It is delivered in six weekly lessons by the adolescents' school teacher and involves classroom discussions, videos, classroom activities and homework assignments.
Other: Waiting list control group; Participants will be placed on a twelve-week waiting list for the programme.	Behavioral: Waiting list control; Control group placed on a twelve-week waiting list.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Well-being measured by the Adolescent Mental Health Continuum-Short Form	Scores on the Adolescent Mental Health Continuum-Short Form range from 14 to 84. Higher scores indicate lower well-being.	6 weeks after beginning intervention: 19/10/2020
Well-being measured by the Adolescent Mental Health Continuum-Short Form	Scores on the Adolescent Mental Health Continuum-Short Form range from 14 to 84. Higher scores indicate lower well-being.	12 weeks after beginning intervention: 01/12/2020

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Resilience measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10	Scores on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 range from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater resilience.	6 weeks after beginning intervention: 19/10/2020
Resilience measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10	Scores on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 range from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater resilience.	12 weeks after beginning intervention: 01/12/2020

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emotional literacy measured by the Emotional Literacy and Intervention Inventory-Pupil Checklist	Scores on the Emotional Literacy and Intervention Inventory-Pupil Checklist are rated on a four-point scale ranging from 'very like me' to 'not like me at all.' Higher scores indicate higher levels of emotional literacy.	6 weeks after beginning intervention: 19/10/2020
Emotional literacy measured by the Emotional Literacy and Intervention Inventory-Pupil Checklist	Scores on the Emotional Literacy and Intervention Inventory-Pupil Checklist are rated on a four-point scale ranging from 'very like me' to 'not like me at all.' Higher scores indicate higher levels of emotional literacy.	12 weeks after beginning intervention: 01/12/2020
Mindfulness measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale for Children	Scores on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale for Children range from 15 to 90. Items are reverse scored so that higher scores indicate higher levels of mindfulness.	6 weeks after beginning intervention: 19/10/2020
Mindfulness measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale for Children	Scores on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale for Children range from 15 to 90. Items are reverse scored so that higher scores indicate higher levels of mindfulness.	12 weeks after beginning intervention: 01/12/2020
Satisfaction with the programme measured by the Brief Satisfaction Scale	Scores on each item of the Brief Satisfaction Scale range from 1 to 7. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with the programme.	6 weeks after beginning intervention: 19/10/2020

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University College Dublin

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 17, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): May 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 18, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 28, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 27, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: moconnor1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: The de-identified data collected in this research will be archived. Other researchers may contact the investigators to access the de-identified data for use in research into well-being, resilience, emotional literacy and mindfulness.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data collected in this study will be made available for other researchers after a manuscript reporting on the study's findings has been accepted for publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data may be accessed for use in research into well-being, resilience, emotional literacy and mindfulness.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No