1. Stress Control in schools
Early intervention and prevention for 15 year olds
(and offer help to their parents and teachers)
Dr Jim White
Pauline Logan

3. CBT ‘evening class’ for adults with CMHPs
Widely used in NHS and across the world
Research: as good as individual therapy *
Works with mild, moderate, severe ^
‘Normalising’ +
* e.g. Delgadillo et al. (2016)
^ e.g. Burns et al. (2016)
+ e.g. Menzies et al. (submitted)

5. Rationale for the study

6. The problem CAMHS/Ed Psy overwhelmed ‘Moderate’ problems not seen
Little early intervention
Little prevention
Don’t reach ‘hard to reach’

7. But
We do have a brilliant and abundant resource
PSE teachers

8. Dedicated PSE periods
PSE teachers who:
know the pupils
know something about mental health
know how to teach
If part of PSE, ‘captive audience’: hard-to-reach are reached
And, if we ran evening classes in school for parents and teachers……….

10. Existing problems
1st step to more involved care
Prevent future problems
Help stressed parents (same language, same skills)
Help siblings / friends
Pupils
Existing problems (1 in 5)
Help children (same language, same skills)
Parents
Help pupils (same language, same skills)
Absenteeism
Presenteeism
Teachers

11. Existing problems
1st step to more involved care
Prevent future problems
Help stressed parents (same language, same skills)
Help siblings / friends
Pupils
Existing problems (1 in 5)
Help children (same language, same skills)
Parents
Help pupils (same language, same skills)
Absenteeism
Presenteeism
Teachers

12. Existing problems
1st step to more involved care
Prevent future problems
Help stressed parents (same language, same skills)
Help siblings / friends
Pupils
Existing problems (1 in 5)
Help children (same language, same skills)
Parents
Help pupils (same language, same skills)
Absenteeism
Presenteeism
Teachers

13. The study
Pollok: one of most deprived areas

14. Teaching uses PowerPoints, video and audio
Information, tasks, discussion, relaxation
A free-to-access website offers relaxation and mindfulness
The eight single weekly periods were:

15. ? What is stress? Getting a good night’s sleep Controlling
your thoughts
Controlling
panicky feelings
Controlling
your actions ?
Controlling
Your future
Controlling your body
Wellbeing

16. The final piece is YOU
Stress Control aims to turn you into your own therapist
Important cliché

17. All 4th Years pupils n = 113
6 PSE teachers trained over 5 hours

18. Evaluation Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS)
(qualitative measures)

19. Pre-class: RCADS Total (anxiety + depression) score
‘normal’
‘borderline’
‘clinical’
RCADS allows users to be placed in three categories: normal, borderline and clinical range. At the start of the trial, 40% of pupils are either borderline or in the clinical range

20. Pre-class: RCADS Total (anxiety + depression) score
RCADS allows users to be placed in three categories: normal, borderline and clinical range. At the start of the trial, 40% of pupils are either borderline or in the clinical range

21. Pre-class: RCADS Total (anxiety + depression) score
RCADS allows users to be placed in three categories: normal, borderline and clinical range. At the start of the trial, 40% of pupils are either borderline or in the clinical range

22. Pre-class: RCADS Total (anxiety + depression) score
RCADS allows users to be placed in three categories: normal, borderline and clinical range. At the start of the trial, 40% of pupils are either borderline or in the clinical range

23. Post-class
We see a significant reduction in the number of pupils in the borderline and clinical ranges with, obviously, more pupils moving to the normal range

24. 9 m follow-up
This continues at 9 month follow-up with post-intervention gains maintained

25. WEMWBS*: pre, post, 9m fu * Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
This looks a bit more impressive than it is. St Pauls pupils start off well below the Scottish average for 15 year olds (50.2). This is probably due to deprivation. Even after improving, they remain below average
* Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale

26. WEMWBS*: pre, post, 9m fu * Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
This looks a bit more impressive than it is. St Pauls pupils start off well below the Scottish average for 15 year olds (50.2). This is probably due to deprivation. Even after improving, they remain below average
* Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale

27. WEMWBS*: pre, post, 9m fu * Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
This looks a bit more impressive than it is. St Pauls pupils start off well below the Scottish average for 15 year olds (50.2). This is probably due to deprivation. Even after improving, they remain below average
* Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale

28. Conclusions
These results suggest teachers can provide CBT/wellbeing skills to deal with pupils with existing problems and maybe help prevent problems in the future
Oh, and the parents and teachers class worked well too!

29. Thank you