Background
While there have been several school‐based physical activity (PA) interventions targeting improvement in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, few have assessed long‐term effects. The ...aim of this paper was therefore to determine intervention effects on CVD risk factors 5 years after cessation.
Methods
Two schools were assigned to intervention (n = 125) or control (n = 134). The intervention school offered 210 min/week more PA than the control school over two consecutive years (fourth and fifth grades). Follow‐up assessment was conducted 5‐year post‐intervention (10th grade) where 180–210 (73%–85%) children provided valid data. Outcomes were CVD risk factors: triglyceride, total‐to‐high‐density‐lipoprotein‐cholesterol ratio (TC:HDL ratio), insulin resistance, blood pressure (BP), waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak). Variables were analyzed individually and as a composite score through linear mixed models, including random intercepts for children.
Results
Analyses revealed significant sustained 5‐year intervention effects for HDL (effect sizes ES = 0.22), diastolic BP (ES = 0.48), VO2peak (ES = 0.29), and composite risk score (ES = 0.38). These effects were similar to the immediate results following the intervention. In contrast, while TC:HDL ratio initially decreased post‐intervention (ES = 0.27), this decrease was not maintained at 5‐year follow‐up (ES = 0.09), whereas WC was initially unchanged post‐intervention (ES = 0.02), but decreased at 5‐year follow‐up (ES = 0.44).
Conclusion
The significant effects of a 2‐year school‐based PA intervention remained for CVD risk factors 5 years after cessation of the intervention. As cardiometabolic health can be maintained long‐term after school‐based PA, this paper demonstrates the sustainability and potential of schools in the primary prevention of future CVD risk in children.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of prosocial behaviour against aggression in a school‐based universal intervention adapted in two different (non‐Western) countries, Colombia and ...Chile. Using a randomised pretest–post‐test design (and controlling for participants' gender and parents' level of education), current results highlighted different effects of a similar programme in both sites. First, the school‐based universal programme designed for promoting prosocial behaviours in the peer context obtained a positive cross‐national effect on prosocial behaviour rated by three informants (i.e. self, peer and teacher reports). In Colombia, this effect was moderated by the initial level of prosociality of the participants and their level of education. Mediational two‐wave model corroborated that the improvement on prosocial behaviours in both countries (moderated in the case of Colombia) predicted significantly lower level of physical aggression. Characteristics of the implementation considering different cultural and historical backgrounds were discussed.
Summary
School‐based interventions can increase young people's physical activity levels, but few are implemented at‐scale (i.e., the expanded delivery of efficacious interventions under real‐world ...conditions into new/broader populations). The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE‐AIM) framework can be used to describe the extent to which interventions have been implemented at‐scale. The aim of our review was to determine the extent to which studies of school‐based physical activity interventions implemented at‐scale reported information across the RE‐AIM dimensions. We conducted a systematic search of seven electronic databases to identify studies published up to June 2019. A total of 26 articles (representing 14 individual studies) met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Eleven studies reported actual or estimated number of students exposed to the intervention; however, the representativeness of these students was rarely reported. Nine studies reported the intervention effect on the primary outcome during scale‐up. Ten studies reported the rate of participating schools/teachers; however, none reported on the characteristics of adopters/nonadopters. Eight studies reported intervention fidelity. Eleven studies described the extent to which the intervention was sustained in schools. There was considerable variability in the reporting of RE‐AIM outcomes across studies. There is a need for greater consistency in the evaluation, and reporting of, school‐based physical activity interventions implemented at‐scale.
Comments on the article by T. Kiran et al. (see record 2024-38968-001), which involved a network meta-analysis of suicide prevention interventions in educational settings. In this comment, the ...authors discuss hurdles to overcome when comparing the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions, including variability in study design, timing, setting, provider, delivery mode, intervention components, target populations, and outcomes. With the increasing number of meta-analyses being conducted on the topic of suicide prevention, it is important that we leverage this evidence base to better inform clinical practice and public policy. One way to support this effort is to develop and promote actionable clinical practice guidelines to tackle the rise in suicide rates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Background
Given the strong relationship between executive functions and academic achievement, there has been great interest in improving executive functions. School‐based group interventions ...targeting executive functions revealed encouraging results in preschoolers and young school children; however, there is a paucity of studies in older primary school children (age 10–12). This is surprising considering that deficits in executive function performance can often be observed in this age group.
Aims
Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether an innovative customized school‐based group intervention could improve core executive functions (updating, inhibition, and shifting) in the age group concerned.
Sample
In total, 118 ten‐ to twelve‐year‐old school children were recruited from eight participating classes.
Methods
They were randomly assigned to one of two‐six‐week conditions of either a cognitive games group comprising of card and board games training executive functions (experimental group) or a wait‐list control group (regular school lessons). In the cognitive games group, the class teachers held a 30‐min training session twice a week. ANCOVAs (using pre‐test values as covariate) were used to compare executive function performance between groups.
Results
Results revealed that the cognitive games group improved specific executive functions (updating and shifting) compared to the control group. These findings indicate that a school‐based group intervention can improve executive functions, even in ‘older’ primary school children.
Conclusion
This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of a classroom‐based cognitive training in older primary school children and is of practical relevance for educators.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
This study assessed the effects of the “Jump‐in” whole‐school intervention in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on children's weight development by comparing children exposed to the ...intervention and controls from 3 other large Dutch cities. Jump‐in is a comprehensive intervention that aims to stimulate healthy nutrition and physical activity in children at primary schools in Amsterdam. In addition, the relationship between the intervention's implementation degree and its effectiveness was studied.
METHODS
Demographic and anthropometric data, collected by youth health care professionals via routine health checks at T0 (2014) and T1 (2019), were used to analyze possible intervention effects by comparing the weight development of children exposed to the Jump‐in intervention versus unexposed controls. Implementation logs from health promotion professionals were used to determine intervention effects per implementation degree. Multilevel regression analyses were used for all analyses.
RESULTS
In total, 4299 children were included mean age ± 5.5 years (T0), 10.6 years (T1), and ≈50% boys/girls at both times. Receiving the fully implemented intervention resulted in a decline in standardized body‐mass index (zBMI) compared to the controls (−0.23, confidence interval CI −0.33, −0.13). It also led to higher odds to move into a healthier weight category over time (odds ratio OR 1.36, CI 1.06, 1.74), yet no statistically significant shift towards a healthy weight was found.
CONCLUSIONS
Relative to the controls, children exposed to the intervention showed positive zBMI developments, with stronger effects when the implementation degree was higher. Despite positive results, creating more impact might require the further integration of school‐based programs into whole‐systems approaches that include other energy‐balance behaviors.
A meta‐analysis of school‐based interventions for anxious and depressed youth using QUORUM guidelines was conducted. Studies were located by searching electronic databases, manual effort, and contact ...with expert researchers. Analyses examined 63 studies with 8,225 participants receiving cognitive‐behavioral therapy (CBT) and 6,986 in comparison conditions. Mean pre–post effect sizes indicate that anxiety‐focused school‐based CBT was moderately effective in reducing anxiety (Hedge's g = 0.501) and depression‐focused school‐based CBT was mildly effective in reducing depression (Hedge's g = 0.298) for youth receiving interventions as compared to those in anxiety intervention control conditions (Hedge's g = 0.193) and depression intervention controls (Hedge's g = 0.091). Predictors of outcome were explored. School‐based CBT interventions for youth anxiety and for youth depression hold considerable promise, although investigation is still needed to identify features that optimize service delivery and outcome.
School climate is an important potential mechanism by which school‐based prevention and intervention efforts exert their effects, although this is rarely examined in the context of child abuse ...prevention programs. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a school‐based child abuse prevention curriculum; the Second Step Child Protection Unit (CPU), on improving teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse and the potential role school climate has on teachers' reporting behaviors. The sample included 162 school teachers participating in a randomized controlled trial who completed assessment measures at three time‐points (pretest, posttest, and 6‐month follow‐up). Results from the current study revealed that the Second Step CPU significantly improved teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse and there was a partial mediation effect of school climate on teacher outcomes at 6‐month follow‐up. These findings add to the literature on child abuse prevention by indicating that a comprehensive child safety intervention is not only effective for improving targeted outcomes, but also for improving the overall school climate. Therefore, understanding school climate as a mechanism of change may promote the successful implementation of school‐based child abuse prevention programs.
Highlights
Results from the current study suggest that the Second Step Child Protection Unit is an effective intervention for improving teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse.
Additionally, these findings add to the literature on child abuse prevention by indicating that school climate played a role in intervention effectiveness for teachers.
Whilst teacher violence against children at school is a significant global issue, it remains a form of child abuse that is rarely explored. The aim of this study was to systematically review the ...global literature on the effectiveness of school‐based interventions to reduce teacher violence against children. MEDLINE, Embase, ASSIA, CINAHL Complete, ERIC and clinical trials.gov databases were searched from inception to 21 April 2022. Four cluster randomised controlled trials were retrieved from Uganda, Tanzania and Jamaica. The number of schools per study (cluster size) varied from 8 to 42 schools with between 55 and 591 teachers and 220–4789 students. The average student age was between 7 and 15 years old and, on average, the teachers were between 30 and 42 years old. The interventions aimed to reduce teacher violence against children and incorporated teacher training workshops that targeted teacher–student relationships by promoting positive discipline techniques and nurturing learning environments. The use of teacher violence was significantly reduced among intervention groups. This suggests that these interventions may effectively decrease teacher violence against children and therefore should be advocated more widely.
We present a school‐based intervention geared to foster the social integration of recently immigrated (RI) primary school children by creating repeated positive contact situations with classmates ...brought up in the receiving society. Coaches encouraged groups of tandems, consisting of one RI and one child brought up in Germany each, to engage in cooperative activities designed to strengthen positive self‐beliefs and perception of equal status. In a quasi‐experimental control‐group design (N = 318), we compared the 30 children (12 RI) who participated in our intervention between pre‐test and post‐test with a reference group. Self‐beliefs were measured via self‐reports, social integration via sociometric peer‐nominations. The reference group (n = 288 children) included all children who did not participate in the intervention between pre‐test and post‐test: (a) 12 children (7 RI) of a waiting control group and (b) all classmates of both the students of the intervention and the waiting control group. Post‐test self‐beliefs were more positive in children having participated in the intervention. The intervention did not affect social integration: Neither the number of classmates nominating a student nor the number of peers the respective student nominated increased. Possibly, the intervention initiated self‐reinforcing processes which support social integration over longer time periods.
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