Table 3.
Included 29 Studies’ Characteristics
| Study | Program name | Age | Country | Type | N (T, C) | Duration | Design | Control | Program content | Targeted outcomes | Program delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes et al. (2012) | The William LifeSkills | 14–17 | USA | U | 159 (86,73) | Twelve 50-min weekly sessions, 3 months | CRCT | Health education | Workshop trains in anger and stress coping skills | Anger and stress management (anxiety and blood pressure) | Teachers at school |
| Barrett & Turner (2001) | Friends for Children | 10–12 | Australia | U |
325 (188, 137) 400 (263, 137) |
75-min per session, 10 sessions | CRCT | Usual care | CBT | Depression and anxiety | Psychologists and Teachers |
| Britton et al. (2014) | Mindfulness meditation | 11–12 | USA | U | 100 (52, 48) | Daily meditation for 6 weeks | CRCT | Experiential activity | Based on integrative contemplative pedagogy | Student acceptability, engagement, clinical symptoms | Two history teachers who completed mindfulness training |
| Chaplin et al. (2006) | Penn Resiliency Program | 11–14 | USA | U | 103 (65, 38) | 90 min/week for 12 weeks | RCT | Co-ed | CBT and social problem-solving intervention | Depression | Teachers, guidance counselors with a week-long training |
| Collins et al. (2014) | Lessons for living: Think well, Do well | 9–10 | UK | U |
238 (103, 135) 214 (79, 135) |
Ten-lesson program | CRCT | Regular personal and social education | The intervention was theoretically grounded in CBT for the development of coping skills. | Anxiety, coping | Psychologists and Teachers |
| DeRosier (2004) | S.S.GRIN (Social Skills GRoup INtervention) | 8–11 | USA | T | 381 (187, 194) | 8 weeks, 50 to 60 mins, weekly | RCT | No-treatment control group | Social responsibility training, S.S.GRIN combines social learning and cognitive–behavioral techniques | Social anxiety and depression | School’s counselor and a trained undergraduate intern |
| Haugland et al. (2020) | Cool Kids Program | 12–16 | Norway | T | 201 (106, 95) |
10 weeks: total 15 h plus two 90-minute parents-only sessions |
RCT | Waitlist | CBT | Anxiety | School personnel or mental health workers |
| Vaag | 177 (82, 95) | 5 sessions: with weekly sessions of 45 to 90 min (total 5.5 hours) over the first 4 weeks, followed by a final session 5 weeks later | |||||||||
| Kraag et al. (2009) | Learn Young, Learn Fair | 10 | Netherlands | U | 1384 (652, 732) | 8 weekly one-hour lessons, 5 weekly one-hour booster sessions | CRCT | Waitlist | Addressed stress, stress awareness, coping skills and possible barriers and was developed using the Intervention Mapping protocol | Anxiety, depression, stress symptoms, coping, stress awareness | Teachers |
| Lewis et al. (2013) | Positive Action | 12–13 | USA | U | 1170 (585, 585) | 6 years | CRCT | Business as usual | Based on self-esteem enhancement theory | Positive affect, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety | Teacher, counselor, and family training |
| Lowry-Webster et al. (2001) | FRIENDS | 10–13 | Australia | U | 531 (392, 139) | 10 sessions | CRCT | Waitlist | CBT | Depression and anxiety | Teachers |
| Merry et al. (2004) | RAP-Kiwi | 13–15 | New Zealand | U | 332 (178, 154) | 11 sessions for 11 weeks or 6 weeks | RCT | Placebo | CBT and interpersonal therapy | Depression | Teachers with 2.5-days of training |
| Mifsud & Rapee (2005) | Cool Kids Program | 9–10 | Australia | T | 91 (51, 40) | 1-hour sessions, 8 sessions, one per week | CRCT | Waitlist | Education about anxiety | Anxiety, internalizing problems | School counselors and social workers |
| Miller et al. (2011) | FRIENDS | 10.1 | Canada | T | 180 (61, 119) | 9 weeks | CRCT | Attention-control | CBT | - | Implemented by the trained school person (i.e., teacher) paired with a trained school counselor (or trained psychology graduate student) |
| 9.8 | U | 237 (134, 103) | |||||||||
| O’Kearney et al. (2009) | MoodGYM | 15-16 | Australia | U | 157 (67, 90) | 6 weeks | RCT | Usual health education | Coping skills to tackle depression | Depression and anxiety | Online intervention |
| Olive et al. (2019) | LOOK | 8 | Australia | U | 642 (335,307) | Two 50-minute sessions/week over four years | CRCT | Similar to intervention but moderated | Specialist-taught physical education: emphasize enjoyment of movement, de-emphasize individual competition, reflective discussion, engaging every child | Depression, body image, and stress | University trained and qualified PE teachers |
| Quach et al. (2016) | Mindfulness Meditation | 12–17 | USA | U | 107 (54, 53) | 45 min/session, 2 sessions/week for 4 weeks | RCT | Waitlist | Based on the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, breathing techniques, formal meditation, discussion | Working memory, capacity, stress, anxiety | Two instructors with 5-10 years of experience in meditation |
| Hatha yoga | 118 (65, 53) | ||||||||||
| Roberts et al. (2003) | Penn Prevention Program | 11–13 | Australia | T | 189 (90, 99) | 12 sessions | CRCT | Usual health education classes | CBT | Depressive symptoms, anxiety | School psychologists and nurses |
| Roberts et al. (2010) | Aussie Optimism | 11–13 | Australia | U | 428 (237, 191) | 60-minute session, 20 weeks | CRCT | Usual health lessons | CBT intervention strategies | Depression and anxiety | Teachers |
| Rooney et al. (2006) | The Positive Thinking Program | 8–9 | Australia | U | 120 (72, 48) | Eight 60-min weekly sessions | CRCT | Regular health education curriculum | CBT | Depression and anxiety | Psychologists |
| Rooney et al. (2013) | The Aussie Optimism: Positive Thinking Skills Program | 9–10 | Australia | U | 910 (467,443) | Ten weekly 60-min sessions | CRCT | Health education | CBT intervention strategies | Internalizing problems and protective factors | Classroom teachers |
| Sawyer et al. (2010) | Beyondblue | 13 | Australia | U | 5634 (3037, 2597) | 3 years, 40-45 min | CRCT | Business as usual | Curriculum, building supportive environment, building pathways for care and education | Depression | Teachers |
| Sheffield et al. (2006) | Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches | 13–15 | Australia | U | 1248 (634, 614) | One 45 min session per week for 8 weeks | CRCT | No intervention | Integrate two major CBT components: cognitive restructuring and problem-solving skills training | Depression, anxiety, and externalizing problems | Teachers |
| Shochet et al. (2001) | Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP) | 12–15 | Australia | U | 172 (65, 107) | 40-50-min sessions, 11 sessions for 11 weeks | RCT | Observation, previous cohort, simply complete the measures | CBT | Depression | Psychologists |
| Sinclair (2016) | Think, Be, Do | 14–21 | USA | U | 115 (74, 41) | 10 sessions over five weeks | CRCT | Business as usual | Based on CBT and ecological theory | Knowledge, mental health, academic competency, internalizing and externalizing symptoms | Teacher trained for 2 hours |
| Skryabina et al. (2016) | FRIENDS | 9–10 | UK | U | 844 (457, 387) | 12 months | CRCT | Usual personal, social, health and education (PSHE) lessons | CBT | Anxiety | Health care staff |
| Spence et al. (2005) | The problem solving for life | 12–14 | Australia | U | 1500 (751, 749) | 45-50 min weekly, 8 sessions | CRCT | Monitoring control condition | CBT | Depression | Teachers |
| Stein et al. (2003) | Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) | 9–10 | USA | T | 117 (54, 63) | 10 sessions | RCT | Delayed intervention | CBT | PTSD, depression, psychosocial dysfunction, classroom problems | Trained school mental health clinicians with 2-day training and weekly group supervision |
| Tak et al. (2016) | Op Volle Kracht (OVK, based on Penn Resilience Program) | 14 | Netherlands | U | 1341 (634, 707) | 16 50-min lessons, a 2 h booster session delivered at 12 months follow up | CRCT | School as usual | Based on several psychological theories and principles, namely CBT, the ABC model (Ellis, 1991), and the hopelessness theory of depression | Depression | Psychologists with varying degrees of experience in CBT and teaching |
| Volanen et al. (2020) | Mindfulness-Based interventions | 12–15 | Finland | U | 2258 (1157, 1101) | Nine weekly 45-min sessions | CRCT | Both | Mindfulness: attending, observing, and accepting | Resilience, socio-emotional functioning, and depressive symptoms | Trained, certified teachers, or experienced leaders of well-being groups |
Note. RCT refers to randomized controlled trial, CRCT refers to cluster randomized controlled trial, N is the total number of participants at the post test, T, C means number of treatment participants and number of control participants respectively, U means universal and T means targeted, CBT Cognitive Behavior Therapy, PTSD Posttraumatic stress disorder