An Evaluation of the FRIENDS for

Life Emotional Resilience

Programme for Children Delivered

by Teachers in Irish Primary

Schools

Eileen Devitt & Mary Mullany

National Educational Psychological Service

Ireland

Members of Research Team

Dr. Richard Ruttledge (Psychologist, Monaghan)

Eileen Devitt (Psychologist, Kerry)

Gabrielle Greene (Regional Director, Limerick)

Mary Mullany (Senior Psychologist, Navan)

Elizabeth Charles (Senior Psychologist, Kilkenny)

Joanne Frehill (Psychologist, Dublin)

Maura Moriarty (Research Assistant, Ennis)

Afric McArdle (Research Assistant, Ennis)

Anxiety in children

Anxiety in children is common and can have negative consequences on educational and social development

Prevalence of anxiety disorders in children has been reported to be as high as 21% (Kashani & Orvaschel, 1990) with most studies estimating around 10% (Carr, 2006)

Childhood anxiety problems significantly increase the risk of developing mental health difficulties in adulthood (Mattison, 1992)

Resilience & Belonging in Children

Resilience is used to describe the positive capacity of a person to deal with stress (Carr, 2006)

Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures – National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (DCYA, 2014) highlights the importance of supporting children to develop emotional resilience

Having a sense of belonging to a school community is likely to have a positive effect on learning, mental health and happiness

Schools where pupils report more feelings of connectedness to adults and peers are strongly associated with higher pupil ratings of resilience (Stewart et al, 2004)

Role of Schools Growing recognition of the important contribution schools

can make to the psychological and emotional health of children (Stallard, 2010)

Teachers are often the One Good Adult in a child’s life

FRIENDS for Life

The programme, developed and licenced by PathwaysAustralia, is a cognitive-behavioural early intervention and prevention programme for childhood anxiety, which can be delivered universally to children (Barrett, 2004)

Very positive evaluations internationally

FRIENDS for Life Helps children to cope with feelings of fear, worry and

sadness by building emotional resilience and self-esteem

Teaches children how to:

- Identify Feelings

- How to Relax

- Change Unhelpful Thoughts to Helpful Thoughts

- How to Overcome Problems

- Celebrate Success

Fits well with normal

SPHE curriculum

Why NEPS Psychologists trained teachers to deliver

FRIENDS for Life?

Teachers have a unique perspective on understanding the particular school context (Shute, 2012)

Teachers are more effective than outsiders at providing social-emotional education in schools (Durlak et al., 2011)

NEPS consultative model of service provides an appropriate framework to train and support teachers in implementing preventative programmes like FRIENDS for Life

Special needs/

targeted

Everyday

opportunities

Wellbeing SEL/SPHE/CPD

Across

mainstream

curriculum

Katherine Weare

Staff

Leadership

Modelling

Objective of the Study

Further develop the evidence base for teacher delivery of the FRIENDS for Life programme as

part of the SPHE curriculum, after receiving training from Psychologists from NEPS

Study Design & Methodology

27 Primary Schools(709 Pupils)

13 Schools in

Intervention Group

(333 Pupils)

14 Schools in

Control Group

(376 Pupils)

January – April

2013

Receive

FRIENDS for

Life

Programme

January – April

2013

SPHE

Curriculum as

Normal

April - June

2013

Receive

FRIENDS for

Life

Programme

Data

Collection

Time 1

January 2013

Time 2

April 2013

Time 3

June 2013

Mean age: 10.83 years

Mostly 5th Class

Some 4th & 6th Class

where Multi-Grade

Setting

Study Design & Methodology

Parents/Guardians, teachers and children completed

questionnaires a number of times in order to evaluate

the effectiveness of the programme

Teachers attended two days training delivered by

NEPS psychologists leading to certification as

FRIENDS for Life Group Facilitators (November 2012

or March 2013)

NEPS psychologists co-facilitated two parent

workshops with school staff. (One at the beginning and

one in the middle of the programme)

NEPS psychologists were available to teachers

throughout the study when needed

ResultsAnxiety Measure: Spence Children’s Anxiety Scales (Child & Parent Version)

Females reported significantly higher levels of Total Anxiety than males

At Time 1 17% (n = 106) rated themselves in the elevated range on the

Total Anxiety Scale; At Time 3 6% (n = 39) rated themselves in the

elevated range

Hypothesis that the intervention group would have lower levels of Total

Anxiety at Time 2 than the control group was supported by parent ratings;

however, despite reductions, ratings by children did not reach statistical

significance

Reductions in Total Anxiety were maintained and continued to drop at 3

month follow-up for intervention group

Significant effect found on Total Anxiety for children attending designated

disadvantaged schools (DEIS) and EBD Special Schools

Significant reductions in child ratings of social phobia and physical injury

fears

Significant reductions in parent ratings for separation anxiety and social

phobia

Common concerns:

SCAS-C

Self

Animals &

Physical injury

Social

Friendships/

Social Inadequacy

Societal

Criminal activity

Family

Familial Loss

Analysis of Written Concerns from the

Spence Childhood Anxiety Scale

ResultsSelf-Concept

Measure: Beck Self-Concept Inventory for Youth

ResultsSelf-Concept

Positive self-concept is associated with responsibility,

independence, emotional security and life satisfaction (Growing Up

in Ireland, 2009)

Children reported they “feel good”, parents reported that their

children appeared “more confident”, and teachers noted that the

programme “opened up self-esteem within the children”

ResultsCoping

Measure: Coping Efficacy Scale & Social Validity Measure

Significant increase on the Coping Efficacy Scale (p = .00)

indicating that the intervention group had improved capacity to cope

with stress and challenging situations

Gains were maintained at three month follow-up

Participants reported that they learned skills about coping when

feeling worried e.g. Coping Step Plans

Participants reported on current situations where they were using

the skills learned in the programme to cope better with anger

management, friendships and sports

ResultsSchool Connectedness

Measure: School Connectedness Scale & Social Validity Measure

The intervention group’s sense of happiness, belonging, safety and

closeness to others in school was significantly higher than the

control group at Time 2

Gains were maintained at three month follow-up

Children reported “liking school better” and their teachers noted a

more “positive outlook” in school and that the “FRIENDS for Life

language is used naturally throughout the day”

Parents described how the skills learned during the programme led

to an improved sense of family connectedness

Home activities are a core part of the programme to help

consolidate new skills and to share experiences. In addition,

psycho-educational sessions for parents serve to reinforce the

importance of family connectedness and secure attachments

ResultsTeacher Implementation of the FRIENDS for Life

programme

Measure: Social Validity Measure

Hypothesis that teachers are effective programme leaders was

supported by quantitative data showing positive outcomes for children

Qualitative data from children and parents was overwhelmingly positive

in attesting to teacher’s capacity to deliver the programme

Value of having teacher-led social and emotional interventions has

been advocated in the literature as being equally (Barrett & Turner,

2001) or indeed more effective than outside professionals (Durlak et

al., 2011)

In the current study the teachers were delivering the FRIENDS for Life

programme for the first time. Therefore, it could be hypothesised that

the impact of the programme on participants would be greater as

teachers become more practiced at delivering it

“Before the FRIENDS programme I felt sad, dull, guilty and I was really worried. I liked all of the activities and I had fun with my friends. Now I

feel good about myself”

“I thought it was great, fun and a great way to

conquer your fears.”

“I would like to do this FFL programme again because the

things I learnt were terrific. I loved FFL it made me feel really

happy. I always had a lovely comment going home about FFL. I

loved doing the family activities and games”.

“It’s helpful and helps you cope

with stress”

Pupil voice…

“It provides excellent coping strategies for dealing with difficult situations”

“I found the FRIENDS programme very useful and worthwhile. The pupils in my class benefitted greatly and were very open to giving their opinions and feelings when they were finished. I believe it particularly helped the

girls that were timid, reserved and shy before the beginning of the programme. I feel they interact more with the class now and in class

discussions” .

“I think those in my class who are ‘worriers’ benefitted a lot from the course. All children

enjoyed it and learnt something useful from it”

Teacher voice…

“He is no longer scared of being alone in the house and can sleep in his room by himself”

“A brilliant programme and needs to be brought into schools for all classes, I feel that this programme is as

important, if not more important than any other subjects taught”

“Each day we discuss the day at mealtime as a family unit. Myself as a parent I also

benefit from changing negative to positive thoughts”

Parent voice…

Study Limitations

Skills based and cognitive-behavioural nature of the

FRIENDS for Life programme indicates that longer-term

outcomes are particularly important for assessing the true

effect of the intervention

International research has found larger effects for the

programme when children are followed up at 6 and 12

months (Essau et al., 2012)

Anecdotal evidence suggests that teachers stuck rigidly to

the children’s workbook, which was not always culturally or

age appropriate

In addition, teachers were confined to a very tight timeline

within which to deliver the programme

It is likely that teachers would be more effective at delivering

the programme after repeated delivery, as they would

become more familiar with programme content and structure

Study Implications

Teachers are in a unique position to intervene early with

preventive social and emotional learning programmes

Through providing such resilience building programmes

universally and using real life examples where anxieties

can be acknowledged and explored, these interventions

can help to normalise feelings of worry and can reduce

the stigma that is related with such difficulties

Current study complements previous research which

has shown that the FRIENDS for Life programme can

be successfully delivered by staff who are not mental

health professionals such as teachers and school

nurses (Barret & Turner, 2001; Stallard et al., 2007)

Study Implications

Effective delivery is predicated by a number of factors

including leader commitment and confidence in talking

about issues relating to mental health (Stallard, 2010)

Ongoing support and consultation to support the

implementation of the programme in schools is an

important aspect of the intervention protocol, to ensure

the syllabus is delivered with fidelity

Psychologists from the National Educational

Psychological Service (NEPS) are in a unique position

to offer such support and they have the requisite skills to

support the implementation of programmes like

FRIENDS for Life in schools (Fagan & Wise, 2007)

Finally, a word of

thanks to all of the

children, parents,

teachers and schools

who participated in the

study

More Information:

Research Article: Ruttledge, R., Devitt, E., Greene, G., Mullany,

M., Charles, E., Frehill, J. & Moriarty, M.

(2016). An evaluation of the FRIENDS for Life

emotional resilience programme for children:

delivered by teachers in primary schools.

Educational and Child Psychology, 33 (2), 69-

89.

Executive Summary

Available on:

http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-

Colleges/Services/National-Educational-

Psychological-Service-NEPS-/Resources-

Publications.html