Longer-term effects of school-based counselling in UK primary schools

Abstract

Children's mental health is deteriorating while access to child and adolescent mental health services is decreasing. Recent UK policy has focused on schools as a setting for the provision of mental health services, and counselling is the most common type of school-based mental health provision. This study examined the longer-term effectiveness of one-to-one school-based counselling delivered to children in UK primary schools. Data were drawn from a sample of children who received schoolbased counselling in the UK in the 2015/16 academic year, delivered by a national charitable organisation. Mental health was assessed at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and approximately 1 year post-intervention, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) completed by teachers and parents. Paired t tests compared post-intervention and follow-up SDQ total difficulties scores with baseline values. Propensity score matching was then used to identify a comparator group of children from a national population survey, and linear mixed effects models compared trajectories of SDQ scores in the two groups. In the intervention group, teacher and parent SDQ total difficulties scores were lower at post-intervention and longer-term follow-up compared to baseline (teacher:

School‐ and community‐based counselling services for children and young people aged 7–18 in the UK: A rapid review of effectiveness, implementation and acceptability

“…Ten evaluations were conducted with learners in primary schools (Cooper, Stafford, et al, 2021; Cooper, Stewart, et al, 2013; Daniunaite et al, 2015; Economics PB, 2018; Finning et al, 2021; Lee et al, 2009; McArdle et al, 2002; Sherr et al, 1999; Sherr & Sterne, 1999). The one RCT conducted with learners primarily in primary school found that, after 12 weeks, learners participating in both group therapy and curriculum studies groups reported reduced problem behaviours (McArdle et al, 2002).…”

“…The feasibility cluster randomised design did not show a significant improvement in the SDQ measurements (Cooper, Duncan, et al, 2021). Both of the nonrandomised controlled evaluations (Finning et al, 2021; Sherr & Sterne, 1999) and four of the pre‐ and poststudy designs (Daniunaite et al, 2015; Economics PB, 2018; Lee et al, 2009; Sherr et al, 1999) related to school counselling provided by the charity organisation Place2Be. All of the studies found an improvement in mental health using either parent or teacher reporting (Finning et al, 2021), learner reporting (Sherr & Sterne, 1999), counsellor reporting (Sherr et al, 1999) or the SDQ measurement (Daniunaite et al, 2015; Economics PB, 2018; Lee et al, 2009).…”

“…Both of the nonrandomised controlled evaluations (Finning et al, 2021; Sherr & Sterne, 1999) and four of the pre‐ and poststudy designs (Daniunaite et al, 2015; Economics PB, 2018; Lee et al, 2009; Sherr et al, 1999) related to school counselling provided by the charity organisation Place2Be. All of the studies found an improvement in mental health using either parent or teacher reporting (Finning et al, 2021), learner reporting (Sherr & Sterne, 1999), counsellor reporting (Sherr et al, 1999) or the SDQ measurement (Daniunaite et al, 2015; Economics PB, 2018; Lee et al, 2009). In addition, a study evaluating a variety of counselling approaches found that there were large reductions in psychological distress for learners (Cooper, Stewart, et al, 2013).…”

Mental Health in Pre-Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy: Exploring the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as a Screening Tool in a Follow-Up Study including Multi-Informants

“…If needed, additional information from teachers could be obtained. The use of multi-informants could prove beneficial, as a high burden of care and mental health challenges have been described in these families, increasing the risk of psychopathology [ 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”