Skills for Life (SFL) school-based mental health program

Initiative Description: The intervention consists of 15 sessions: 10 for the student, 3 for the parent, and 2 for the teacher. Student workshop sessions, which are the sole focus of the current article, are led by psychologists from the program. Sessions take place during the school day, including 6 to 10 students, and last 1.5 to 2 hours each and has specific group focus based on the color that represents competencies expected to develop as a result of the intervention including social abilities, autonomy, self-sufficiency & self-esteem.

Study Results: Among the 3,935 students who were screened as being high risk on the TOCA-RR in first grade, there was a significant linear relationship between the number of workshop sessions attended and improvements in behavioral and academic outcomes

Reference: Guzmán, J., Kessler, R. C., Squicciarini, A. M., George, M., Baer, L., Canenguez, K. M., … Murphy, J. M. (2015). Evidence for the effectiveness of a national school-based mental health program in Chile. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(10), 799–807.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2015.07.005

Level of Evidence: Good