The Effect of Social Skills Training Program on the Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Adolescent Girls in a High School
,
Abstract
Objective: School-based interventions (such as life skills training) have become the mainstay for prevention of some behavioral problems. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a social skills training program on a group of students who were in the first grade of high school in an urban area of Tehran, Iran.Method: In a before-after study, a kind of social skill education program named Right Choices' was used for high school female students. The entire studentsof a class in a high school participated in the study. The students' age ranged from 14-16 years. All of the participants lived in an urban area. Demographic characteristics were recorded in a designed questionnaire and included the name, age, educational level of the students and their parents, and prior history of psychiatric and medical condition. The total problem score and each of the subscale scores of the students before and after the study were calculated and compared.
Results: The mean age of the 33 participants in the study whose SDQ answer sheets were completed was equal to 15.156.2 years (14 to 17 years). The mean total problem score of the participants in the beginning of the program was equal to 14.35. After the program, the students' total problem score and all of the subscale scores improved, however, the differences between pre- and post intervention scores were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Social skills training program may impact the problem behaviorsof the adolescent girls.
Evans SW, Mullett E, Weist MD,Franz K. Feasibility of the MindMatters School Mental Health Promotion Program in American Schools . J Youth Adolesc 2005; 34: 51-58.
Leaf PJ, Alegria M, Cohen P, Goodman SH, Horwitz SM, Hoven CW, et al. Mental health service use in the community and schools: results from the four-community MECA Study. Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders Study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1996; 35: 889- 897.
Wu P, Hoven CW, Bird HR, Moor RE, Cohen P, Alegria M, et al. Depressive and Disruptive Disorders and Mental Health Service Utilization in Children and Adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1999; 38: 1081-1090.
Walter HJ,Berkovitz IH. Practice parameter for psychiatric consultation to schools. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2005; 44: 1068-1083.
Charron SA,Parns M. Promoting emotional wellness: undergraduate clinical experiences in elementary schools. Nurse Educ 2004; 29: 208-211.
Nabors LA,Lahmkuhl HD. Children with Chronic Medical Conditions: Recommendations for School Mental Health Clinicians J Dev Phys Disabil 2004; 16: 1-15.
McClelland MM,Morrison FJ. The emergence of learning-related social skills in preschool children. Early Child Res Q 2003; 18: 206-224.
McClelland MM, Morrison FJ,Holmes DL. Children at risk for early academic problems: the role of learning-related social skills. Early Child Res Q 2000; 15: 307-329.
Gorman DM. Does measurement dependence explain the effects of the Life Skills Training program on smoking outcomes? Prev Med 2005; 40: 479-487.
Weist MD, Myers CP, Danforth J, McNeil DW, Ollendick TH,Hawkins R. Expanded school mental health services: assessing needs related to school level and geography. Community Ment Health J 2000; 36: 259-273.
Goodman R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1997; 38: 581-586.
Tehrani Doost M, Shahrivar Z, Pak Baz B, Rezaei A,Ahmadi F. [Validity of farsi version of strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ)]. Advances in cognitive science 2007; 8: 33-39.
Arabgol F, Mahmoudi Gharaei J,Hakim Shoushtari M. [The effect of social skills education on the function of grade four elemantary students]. Advances in cognitive science 2005; 7: 51-57.
O'Hearn TC,Gatz M. Going for the Goal: Improving youths' problem-solving skills through a school-based intervention. J Community Psychol 2002; 30: 281-303.
Irvine AB, Biglan A, Smolkowski K, Metzler CW,Ary DV. The effectiveness of a parenting skills program for parents of middle school students in small communities. J Consult Clin Psychol 1999; 67: 811-825.
Rahimi J, Haghighi J, Mehrabi zadeh Honarmand M,Beshlideh K. [The effect of group assertive training on social anxiety, social skills and assertiveness of male first grade high school students in Shiraz]. J Educ Psychol 2006; 3: 111-124.
Derakhshani S, Hosseinian S,Yazdi SM. [Theeffects of group social skills training on reduction of shyness of high school female students]. Counseling research and development 2006; 5: 23-34.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 3 No 2 (2008) | |
| Section | Articles | |
| Keywords | ||
| Adolescents Behavioral symptoms School Prevention and control Psychological adaptation | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
