Project Resilience

Evaluation of two prevention programmes to promote the mental health of students

As a result of the pandemic, many students are suffering from increased psychological stress. As part of the Hessian state programme Löwenstark – der BildungsKICK to support schools in coping with the coronavirus crisis, school psychologists are working with teachers to implement the two prevention programmes Safe Place and Mental Health and School (IMPRES) in the classroom on a modular basis, with the aim of strengthening stress management skills, reducing psychological stress and promoting resilience and mental health.

Safe Place is a resilience and stress management programme developed by the Trauma Centre for Victims of Terror and War (NATAL) in Israel and adapted for the German school context by the Kompetenzzentrum Schulpsychologie Hessen. As part of Löwenstark – der BildungsKICK, Safe Place is used in grades four to seven. The Mental Health and School (IMPRES) teaching programme, developed in Canada at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre and adapted for the German school context by the Centre for Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence (ZPI) at the University of Bielefeld, is used in grades eight to eleven.

The Resilience project, based at the Competence Centre for School Psychology in Hesse, aims to scientifically evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the two prevention programmes. The evaluation study addresses the following questions

1. How effective is Safe Place in strengthening the stress management skills and resilience of students* in grades four to seven?
2. How effective is Mental Health and School (IMPRES) in strengthening mental health literacy (knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking behaviour regarding mental health) and reducing stigma among students in grades eight to eleven?
3. What are the characteristics and advantages of a mixed methods approach compared to a purely quantitative and a purely qualitative research approach in assessing the stress management skills and mental health literacy of students in grades eight to eleven?
4. How do students, teachers and school administrators evaluate the prevention programmes (evaluation of acceptance)?

For the first two questions, the effectiveness of the prevention programmes Safe Place and Mental Health and School (IMPRES) will be evaluated using a pre-test/post-test follow-up control group design. For the third research question, a quantitative questionnaire and qualitative focus groups will be used to assess the stress management skills and mental health competence of students in grades eight to eleven participating in the Mental Health and School (IMPRES) programme. The results of both surveys will be compared and triangulated using a mixed methods approach. For the fourth research question, a quantitative questionnaire and qualitative focus groups will be used to assess the acceptability to students, teachers and school administrators.

In the first phase of the project (2022/2023 school year), the demand from schools to participate in the programme was greater than the school psychologists were able to meet. In order to meet the increased demand for more psychosocial support, the KSH is coordinating the multiplication of the Löwenstark programmes for sustainable implementation in Hessian schools in the second project phase (school year 2023/2024). Multi-professional teams (teachers, school social workers, UBUS specialists) will be trained by school psychologists to implement the programmes in their schools under the supervision of school psychologists. This multiplication phase will also be evaluated in terms of the above question.

Read more about the programmes:

Safe Place:
https://kultusministerium.hessen.de/Schulsystem/Schulpsychologie/Safe-Place-Training-fuer-Schuelerinnen-und-Schueler

Psychische Gesundheit und Schule:
https://kultusministerium.hessen.de/schulsystem/schulpsychologie/impres