Schoolchildren who are taught that stress and sadness are normal parts of life are likely to have better mental health, finds a new study led by UCL and mental health charity, Anna Freud.
The Education for Wellbeing trial, which was commissioned and funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and led by researchers from the Evidence Based Practice Unit (a collaboration between UCL and Anna Freud), investigated which strategies are most effective at improving the mental health awareness of British schoolchildren.
The study ran between 2018 and 2024 and involved 32,000 children from 500 schools across England. Interventions were trialled on children in Years 4, 5, 7 and 8.
One approach used in the trial, known as strategies for safety and wellbeing (SSW), involves normalising feelings of stress and sadness in children.
The researchers found that this intervention led to the most positive outcomes. The approach is designed to help children to better understand how to differentiate everyday emotions from mental ill health and know where to access support if needed.
In primary schools, SSW significantly improved mental health literacy - specifically intention to seek help if mental health problems arise in the future - and, when implemented in full, a significant rise in mental health literacy was seen in secondary schools.
SSW was developed for the trial by Anna Freud - a mental health charity that has been supporting children and young people for over 70 years - with sector experts, school staff and young people using DfE specifications. Following these results Anna Freud is rolling out training to support school staff across the UK in delivering the intervention in both primary and secondary schools.
Two other interventions that also showed promise focused on mindfulness exercises and relaxation techniques - although the success of these techniques often depended on the age and background of the students involved.
All three of the techniques only showed promise when implemented consistently and frequently. And experts stress that they should be considered as part of a 'whole-school approach' to mental health and wellbeing to achieve maximum benefits.
Chief Investigator Professor Jess Deighton (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences and Anna Freud) said: "Schools have a critical role to play in the wellbeing of children and young people and, with the right tools, can even help to prevent mental health challenges. However, there has been a real lack of clarity over which school-based mental health interventions work best. With results from this landmark study, staff now have much-needed guidance to support them in building the mental health and wellbeing of students.
"A key takeaway is for schools to pick evidence-based mental health approaches and monitor their impact. We found that some of the interventions trialled are only effective when delivered in full or for certain groups, but can cause unintended consequences for some.
"The most promising intervention - Strategies for Safety and Wellbeing - is designed to help children and young people before potential problems escalate into mental ill health by normalising everyday emotions and showing where to find support if needed. This taps into what schools are already doing, but provides structured and comprehensive guidance to support staff in delivering these messages.
"It's important to remember the impact of these interventions alone is small, and should be part of a wider, whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing, a priority for Anna Freud. This involves building supportive relationships and a sense of belonging across the whole school community, as well as ensuring more targeted support for those that need it. As this was the first time these interventions were trialled in England, more research is needed to help us understand potential negative consequences and how these can be negated."
The main analyses for Education for Wellbeing were carried out by an independent researcher from the University of Dundee, who was blinded to the trial intervention conditions. Other organisations involved in the research included the University of Manchester, the Care Policy Evaluation Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Bath.
Two mental health awareness interventions developed outside the UK were also trialled in secondary schools (Year 9): Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide).
Findings indicated some improvements in mental health outcomes for both interventions in the short term, including improved mental health literacy for The Guide and reduced emotional difficulties for schools that implemented YAM. However, in the longer term, both approaches were associated with a small increase in emotional difficulties.
As YAM and the Guide were initially developed and tested for school systems outside of England, researchers say that despite adaptations, this affected the ability of some schools to fully implement the interventions, which may have impacted the results.
