Spanish version of Super Skills for Life in individual modality: Improvement of children's emotional well‐being from a transdiagnostic approach

Abstract

Objective(s): This study analyzed the short-term effects of the Super Skills for Life (SSL) program in its individual format from the parents' perspective. Methods: Parents of 70 Spanish children aged 8-11 years (M = 9.31; SD = 1.16) completed assessment instruments about their children's emotional state at the baseline and postintervention. Results: Analyses revealed significantly lower scores in depression (The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire), anxiety, and specific disorders (The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale) (i.e., panic attack/agoraphobia, separation anxiety, social phobia, and generalized anxiety). Significant improvements were also found in anxiety life interference at home (The Child Anxiety Life Interference Scale), total difficulties, internalized and externalized problems, emotional symptoms, peer problems, and hyperactivity/inattention (The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at posttest. SSL was effective in reducing psychopathological symptoms similarly in both girls and boys. Conclusions: These promising results provide preliminary support for the usefulness of the SSL program in individual format for the indicated prevention of children's emotional problems. This study provides a valuable resource for research and clinical practice.

The Role of Emotion Regulation and Executive Functioning in the Intervention Outcome of Children with Emotional and Behavioural Problems

“…Using the transdiagnostic CBT-based programme Super Skills for Life (SSL), children and adolescents with emotional problems in Mauritian residential care institutions showed a significant increase in inhibitory control, an increase in adaptive (e.g., positive reappraisal) and decrease in maladaptive (e.g., rumination) emotion regulation strategies; and fewer internalising and externalising symptoms [32]. Several other studies have highlighted the effectiveness of the SSL programme in improving emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents [27,[33][34][35]. These studies demonstrate that emotional problems following the SSL programme significantly reduced; moreover these effects were maintained 12 months post intervention [33].…”

“…The aim of the present study was therefore to examine the extent to which EF performance and emotion regulation at baseline would predict emotional and behavioural problem scores at post-intervention, and to examine whether the emotion regulation strategies mediate these outcomes. Specific emotion regulation strategies (e.g., other blame) have been found to mediate the relationship between emotional and behavioural problems [35], however studies that examine whether emotion regulation mediates the relationship between EF and emotional and problem behaviours are few, and have shown mixed results. For example, one study reported little effect of emotion regulation on emotional problems following CBT [36], whereas for behavioural problems, psychosocial interventions have shown to improve emotion regulation [30].…”