- Title
- Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a school-based health and well-being program for adolescent girls
- Creator
- White, Karen; Lubans, David R.; Eather, Narelle
- Relation
- Pilot and Feasibility Studies Vol. 8, no. 15
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40814-021-00964-3
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Background: The primary aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a school-based health and well-being program (Health and Well-being for Girls: HWBG) on adolescent girls’ well-being, mindfulness, screen-time, and physical activity. Method: The HWBG program was evaluated using a group randomized controlled trial (RCT) in one secondary school. A convenience sample of female students in Grade 8 (mean age 14 ± 0.5 years) was recruited for the study (n=4 classes; 89 girls). The 20-week multi-component HWBG program, guided by Self-Determination Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, was designed and delivered by a member of the research team. Randomization occurred prior to baseline assessments at the class level (n=4 classes) into dose-matched treatment conditions (i.e., two classes received the HWBG intervention and two classes received an alternate elective course as a wait-list control group). Process evaluation measures of recruitment, retention, adherence, and satisfaction were used to determine program feasibility. This study was designed to assess feasibility (primary outcome) and preliminary efficacy (secondary outcomes), rather than effectiveness. Preliminary efficacy of HWBG for improving mental and social health, screen-time, and physical activity were measured and analyzed using linear mixed-models. Results: “The health and well-being program” targeting adolescent girls was found to be feasible for implementation as an elective course in a secondary school setting. Participants in the HWBG program reported high levels of satisfaction, the majority of lessons (45 out of 50), were implemented as planned and adherence to the planned HWBG program content was very high. Medium positive effects on mental health (d=0.45) and social health (d=0.50) were observed. Small effects were observed for physical activity, and no significant intervention effects were found for levels of recreational screen time. Participant ratings showed high levels of perceived benefit and enjoyment as indicated in the evaluation data (mean rating of 4.44 out of a possible 5.0) when asked whether the program was enjoyable. Conclusion: The study provides preliminary support for HWBG as a potentially feasible and enjoyable program suitable for use with adolescent girls in the secondary school setting. Potential of the study for facilitating improvements in pro-social and psychological well-being is also supported.
- Subject
- adolescent; female; well-being; mindfulness; physical activity; screen-time
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1458395
- Identifier
- uon:45417
- Identifier
- ISSN:2055-5784
- Rights
- © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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