Adolescent stress and mental health: Effectiveness of school-based intervention programs and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of increased sensitivity to stress and increased risk of developing mental health problems. However, the majority of adolescents do not receive treatment for these problems. To reach and support adolescents with psychological needs, it is important to provide accessible and effective mental health care. School-based intervention programs targeting (school or social) stress may be a promising way to promote adolescents’ mental health. The results of this dissertation showed the potential of school-based stress-reduction and targeted skills-training programs. That is, the meta-analyses and the performance anxiety program indicated promising results for selected groups on reducing (psychological and physiological) stress and performance anxiety, respectively. Yet, the social skills program was not effective, possibly because the program was not intensive enough, was too broad, or the target group was too heterogenous. Despite the challenges, it was possible to successfully implement and evaluate targeted skills-training programs within schools in a diverse sample of adolescents. In addition, our findings regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that adolescents with prepandemic vulnerabilities were at risk for experiencing problems during the pandemic, stressing the need of providing help and support for adolescents with psychological needs. Schools and governments should be aware of the existence and potential of school-based intervention programs and should offer and implement them in the first years of secondary school to reduce stress and performance anxiety in adolescents.