The Impact of a Harry Potter-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Skills Curriculum on Suicidality and Well-being in Middle Schoolers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Affect Disord
; 286: 134-141, 2021 05 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1131431
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the impact of a Harry Potter-based mental health literacy curriculum, imparting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills, on suicidality and well-being in middle-schoolers.METHODS:
Students (aged 11-14; grades 7-8) who received a 3-month teacher-delivered intervention embedded in the language arts curriculum (N=200) were compared to a wait-list control group (N=230) in the largest urban school board in Canada. Suicidality defined as a composite measure of self-reported suicidal ideation and attempts [primary outcome], self-reported emotion dysregulation, interpersonal chaos, confusion about self, and impulsivity [Life Problems Inventory (LPI)] and self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms [Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)] were the outcomes of interest. Measurements occurred prior to and after curriculum delivery with independent t-tests used to compare mean change scores between groups clustered by class.RESULTS:
Thirty-seven English teachers in 46 classes across 15 schools comprised the planned study cohort. Composite suicidality scores were significantly worse in the control than intervention group at endpoint (0.05±0.54 vs. 0.17±0.47, t= -2.60, df=428, p=0.01). There were also significant improvements in LPI and RCADS scores in the intervention group compared to controls (LPI-3.74±7.98 vs. 1.16±10.77 t=5.28, df=428, p<.001; RCADS (-3.08±5.49 vs. -1.51±6.53 t=2.96, df=429, p=0.01). Sub-analyses revealed that these improvements were largely driven by a significant difference in scores in girls.LIMITATIONS:
Sample size constraints as study terminated prematurely during COVID pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
This study demonstrates significant improvement in suicidality, emotional regulation, self-concept, interpersonal difficulties, depression and anxiety in youth, particularly girls following this intervention. Replication studies in larger samples are needed to confirm these results.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
/
COVID-19
/
Suicide Prevention
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Affect Disord
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jad.2021.02.028
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