Recommended Practice #1
Incorporate interpersonal skills into curricula and extracurricular programming
Overview
In 2021, nearly two out of five high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless in the past year1. Teenagers are especially at risk of depression, anxiety, and similar disorders due to their ongoing brain development and complex social situations.2
1Centers for Disease Control and PreventionNational Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB PreventionDivision of Adolescent and School Health (2021) Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Retrieved from Summary-Trends_Report2023_508.pdf
2Boxe, A. (2020). The Teen Brain, in Flux, Vulnerable to Mental Health Disorders. Retrieved from https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/mental-health/2020/the-teen-brain-in-flux-vulnerable-to-mental-health-disorders-061220
The Evidence Base
Learn When to Use It in Your School
If your school or district notices low engagement and conflict among students, it is important to weave interpersonal and self-regulation skills into everyday curriculum. Increased disciplinary actions and reports of bullying are also signs of the need to adopt such practices. Using surveys or screeners to gauge students’ current skills and skill gaps can help drive your choice of curriculum and targeted focus areas.
Considerations for Implementation
Research indicates that programs aimed at improving self-awareness and regulation can reduce emotional distress and risky behaviors while also improving attitudes toward self, others, and school. Programs that focus on self-awareness and interpersonal skills have been linked to reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety among young people. This highlights that they are effective not only at improving emotional and social skills, but also at reducing mental health challenges.3
Interventions that are well-structured and follow the criteria known as SAFE (sequenced, active, focused, explicit) are particularly effective. The programs lead to significant improvements not just in students’ emotional well-being, but also in academic performance, highlighting the two-fold benefits of self-awareness and regulation in schools. The positive impact of the programs is also demonstrated by their ability to reduce common issues among teenagers, such as anxiety, depression, and antisocial behavior, leading to more supportive and productive school environments.
How Tech Can Support
Recommended Practice #2
Provide mental health education and resources
Overview
- Equip your staff and students with the knowledge they need to recognize signs of mental health challenges.
- Teach staff and students how to recognize and respond to peers who may be struggling.
- Be better informed about local, state, and national resources.
- Allow you to address quickly the needs of students, parents and caregivers, and staff when issues arise.
A majority of mental health challenges begin in youth or young adulthood, with half starting by age 14 and three-quarters by age 24. However, only half of young people who need mental health services get them.4
4Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593-602, p. 593.
The Evidence Base
Learn When to Use It in Your School
Providing additional education about mental health challenges and resources may be the right approach for your school or district if observations, surveys, or challenging behaviors suggest that your students and staff could benefit from understanding the difference between “normal” stress and the distress that points to mental health challenges. Teens often engage in behaviors and experiences that may seem like distress but are actually part of typical development.
Since peers are usually the first to notice changes in a friend, providing mental health education and resources will help your students to recognize changes in behavior or habits that may be signs of mental health challenges and respond appropriately. Learning about the signs of distress in others can also help your students identify the signs in themselves.
Considerations for Implementation
Integrating mental health education and information about how to access resources into your curriculum is a core best practice in school-based mental health approaches. This is most effective when the material is presented in engaging and dynamic ways as part of a comprehensive mental health promotion strategy and is regularly refreshed in your students’ minds.
It ensures that your staff and students have frequent exposure to the basic warning signs, have quick access to mental health resources, and receive consistent messages about the importance of reaching out to a trusted adult if they or a peer are concerned.
Including mental health education and resources across your entire campus ensures every student gets basic mental health information. This universal approach prevents the biases that can happen with programs that focus only on students at high risk for mental health challenges, which may lead to negative labels among teenagers.
How Tech Can Support
Recommended practice #3
Create opportunities for peer support and mentorship
Overview:
The programs should be implemented with proper training for peer mentors and the staff supporting them. They help prevent mental health challenges, build resilience, and create a sense of belonging. When schools incorporate structured peer support along with professional counseling, they are taking steps to effectively promote mental wellness.
Peer support interventions have consistently been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress among youth. An analysis of 17 studies showed that peer support has a positive impact on youth mental health.5
5Byrom, N. (2018). Supporting students with mental health issues: Evidence-informed advice for principals, teachers, and school staff. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(8), 8-12.
The Evidence Base
Learn When to Use It in Your School
Adding peer support and mentorship programs is a critical step when data shows that students need more mental health support than may be fully met through your existing support system. That need may manifest as high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, bullying, isolation, or disconnection reported in student surveys, counselor feedback, or disciplinary records. Peer support becomes even more important if there are not enough professional mental health resources, such as counselors, psychologists, or therapists, available at your school or in your community.
Even when adult services are available, teenagers may not feel comfortable opening up about personal issues. Trained peer supporters can offer an alternative source of help. They can be especially supportive during difficult times, such as starting a new grade or dealing with family issues like divorce. Encouraging peer support early on helps create a caring school environment in which students feel understood, valued, and supported by their friends as they manage their mental health.
Considerations for Implementation
Creating successful peer support and mentorship programs will require keeping a few important things in mind:
- Peer mentors and supporters need proper training. They should learn how to listen well, show understanding, keep healthy boundaries, and know when a student may need help from a mental health expert.
- Peer mentorship programs work best when they are known and easy for all students to access. Peer support should be talked about openly as a positive resource. This could include having special rooms for mentor meetings, drop-in hours for peer counseling, and posters around school.
- Peer mentorship should involve students’ existing friend groups and social circles. Students are more likely to use support from peers they already know and feel comfortable with.
Making peer support a regular, built-in part of your school’s culture can boost mental health for everyone. When student mentors are trained properly, the program is promoted well, and existing friendships are expanded, an inclusive culture can be created in which students naturally look out for one another’s well-being. When used as a supportive tool, the special connection among peers is a powerful way to protect mental health.
How Tech Can Support
Explore Ready Made Resources
Set to Go includes evidence-based, user-friendly tools and resources to help you support your students in thinking about, planning for, and creating the future they want.
DBT Skills for Every Teen provides tools for building social and emotional wellness and resiliency in schools.
Second Step’s downloadable white paper provides guidance on selecting assessments and programs to support high-quality SEL for youth and adults
1 Learning Policy Institute by Mark T. Greenberg(2023) "Evidence for Social and Emotional Learning in Schools" Retrieved from: https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/evidence-social-emotional-learning-schools-report#:~:text=SEL%20programs%2C%20usually%20taught%20by,behavior%20problems%20and%20emotional%20distress
