Project Activities
From databases of published research, the research team will retrieve studies that tested mental health interventions for students in K–12 school settings, including interventions that targeted students experiencing common social, emotional, and behavioral problems. The research team will conduct analyses of the main effects of the interventions, factors that might enhance or diminish intervention outcomes, and whether improved mental health leads to improved student functioning and academic performance.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This project will include studies conducted in K–12 school settings from the 1960s to the present.
Sample
The expected study pool from which the research team will pull for analysis will include approximately 300 studies of controlled trials (randomized controlled trials and strong quasi-experimental designs) testing interventions implemented in schools to treat students for symptoms of depression, anxiety (including post-traumatic stress and OCD), conduct problems (including disruptive and aggressive behavior), and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Studies must also include assessment of mental health, academic, or school/behavioral functioning outcomes and be reported in English.
Factors
This research will explore any type of school-based treatment that aims to improve behavioral and/or mental health outcomes for students with symptoms of depression, anxiety, conduct problems, and ADHD. The team will also examine the student and school characteristics and contexts that are associated with treatment effectiveness.
Research design and methods
Researchers will conduct a meta-analysis to answer the research questions.In phase 1, five scientific databases will be searched to identify all the school-based trials of mental health interventions for depression, anxiety, conduct problems, or ADHD that have been published or submitted as dissertations or theses. In phase 2, the studies will be coded for characteristics of the schools, students, interventions, control conditions, outcome measures, and study methods. In addition, the mean score, standard deviation, and samples size of the intervention and control group will be extracted, or obtained from the study authors, to compute effect sizes (ESs). Phase 3 will include the final data analysis and reporting and dissemination of results.
Control condition
Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control group.
Key measures
The project will include all the measures of mental health, social, emotional, or behavioral outcomes, school functioning, and academic performance that are included in the trials synthesized. The outcomes in this meta-analysis are the ESs for each eligible study. The type of ES depends on the design as well as nature of the primary study dependent variable.
Data analytic strategy
Researchers will combine meta-analytic methods with multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling. For the assessment of mean intervention effects, the team will use a multilevel approach, fitting a three-level random effects model (variation in effects between studies, variation in effects between different measures within each study, and variation in effects due to chance). The research team will examine post-intervention outcomes and follow-up outcomes, incorporating ESs from all three outcome domains (mental health, academic performance, and student functioning) to estimate overall mean intervention effects. In addition, variation by outcome domain will be examined, along with moderators such as interventionist role (counselor, teacher) and student characteristic (age, race/ethnicity) for each outcome domain. Mediation analyses will examine whether mental health improvement accounts for improvements in school functioning and academic outcomes.
Products and publications
Products: The project will result in a comprehensive picture of the effectiveness of mental health interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral problems when implemented within schools; which intervention, student, and school characteristics are associated with best and worst intervention outcomes; and the extent to which improvement in student mental health mediates the impact of the interventions on students' functioning and academic performance. The project will also result in a final dataset to be shared, peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator: Weisz, John R.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.