Amy Challen and colleagues ask whether well-being workshops can improve children's psychological health.

Amy Challen

English

Research Papers in Economics

THE LINK BETWEEN 
THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. 
THINKING STYLES. 
CHALLENGING BELIEFS. 
ALTERNATIVES AND 
EVIDENCE. EVALUATING 
THOUGHTS AND PUTTING 
THEM IN PERSPECTIVE. 
ASSERTIVENESS AND 
NEGOTIATION. COPING 
STRATEGIES. GRADED 
TASK AND SOCIAL 
SKILLS TRAINING. 
DECISION MAKING. 
SOCIAL PROBLEM
SOLVING.
Pre-teens who
take part in
well-being
workshops
show reduced
symptoms of
depression 
and anxiety
CentrePiece Spring 2009
14CentrePiece Spring 2009
15
The first interim report on a controlled trial of the ‘UK
Resilience Programme’ – a curriculum aimed at building
children’s skills to help them solve problems, feel happier
and behave well – finds reduced symptoms of depression
and anxiety among Year 7 pupils who participate in the
workshops.
The preliminary results also suggest that disadvantaged
children and children with below average educational
attainment in Key Stage 2 tests at age 11 gain more from
the workshops. So too do children who start from a worse
baseline in terms of their reported psychological health.
Since September 2007, three local authorities – South
Tyneside, Manchester and Hertfordshire – have piloted the
UK Resilience Programme. The first year of workshops
included around 2,000 pupils across 22 schools (the
‘treatment’ group for the evaluation) and many more have
been involved subsequently.
The programme is the UK implementation of the Penn
Resiliency Program, which was developed by psychologists
at the University of Pennsylvania. The programme, which
is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), aims to
build ‘resilience’ in children through teaching realistic
thinking, adaptive coping skills and social problem solving. 
The first interim report on the programme finds that:
  Pupils who participate in the programme have reduced
symptoms of depression and anxiety – a positive short-
term impact on their psychological well-being.
  These positive effects are different for different kinds of
pupils. For example, they are larger for pupils who did
not attain the national target levels in Key Stage 2
tests, and for pupils with worse initial symptoms of
depression or anxiety.
  Pupils are generally positive about the programme. 
The majority report that they enjoyed the workshops
and that they had learned skills that would help them
solve problems, feel happier and behave well.
  Some pupils say that they have applied the skills in real
life situations, and some show a good understanding
of the key elements of the programme.
  The content of the programme is quite intellectually
demanding and some facilitators believe that some
pupils struggle with this.
  Facilitators are extremely positive about the ideas
underlying the programme and about the training they
received. Most report using the skills themselves.
  Most facilitators believe that the skills could make a
positive difference to pupils in various domains of their
lives, including psychological well-being and peer
relationships.
The positive short-term effects of the programme on
children’s psychological well-being are promising. Data
being gathered now and next year will make it possible to
evaluate its longer-term impact, including its effects on
pupils’ behaviour, attendance and academic attainment.
This article summarises ‘UK Resilience Programme Evaluation:
Interim Report’ by Amy Challen, Stephen Machin, Philip
Noden and Anne West (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/
data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR094%20(1).pdf).The evaluation 
was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools
and Families.
Amy Challen is coordinator and lead researcher on CEP’s
evaluation of the UK Resilience Programme. Stephen Machin
is research director of CEP and professor of economics at
University College London. Philip Noden is a research fellow
in the education research group (ERG) at LSE. Anne West is
director of ERG and professor of education policy at LSE.
The UK Resilience Programme is one of seven strands of work
under the Local Well-being Project, an initiative launched in
2006 to test practical ways of improving both individual and
community well-being and resilience in three very different
areas of the UK – Hertfordshire, Manchester and South
Tyneside.The project brings together the three local authorities
with CEP , the Young Foundation and the Improvement and
Development Agency.
A pilot programme of well-being workshops for 11 and 12 year olds is
improving their psychological health, according to an initial evaluation
by Amy Challen, Stephen Machin and LSE colleagues.
Promoting children’s well-being
in brief...
Disadvantaged and
relatively low-achieving
children gain more from
the workshops

In Brief: Promoting children's well-being

http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp283.pdf

In Brief: Promoting children's well-being

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Research Papers in Economics