Effectiveness of interventions adopting a whole school approach to enhancing social and emotional development a meta-analysis

• Published in: European journal of psychology of education Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 755 - 782
• Main Authors: Goldberg, Jochem M., Sklad, Marcin, Elfrink, Teuntje R., Schreurs, Karlein M. G., Bohlmeijer, Ernst T., Clarke, Aleisha M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Science + Business Media 01.10.2019; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Child development; Classrooms; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Collaboration; Curricula; Education; Educational Environment; Educational Psychology; Emotional Adjustment; Emotional Development; Emotions; Families & family life; Family School Relationship; Health promotion; Intervention; Learning; Mental health; Meta Analysis; Pedagogic Psychology; Program Effectiveness; School Activities; School Community Relationship; School environment; Schools; Skill development; Skills; Social & emotional learning; Social Development; Student Adjustment; Student Behavior; Students; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Skills; Thinking Skills; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Wellbeing; Social emotional adjustment; Whole school approach; Behavioural adjustment; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 0256-2928; 1878-5174
• DOI: 10.1007/s10212-018-0406-9

This article presents findings from a meta-analysis which sought to determine the effectiveness of interventions adopting a whole school approach to enhancing children and young people’s social and emotional development. Whole school interventions were included if they involved a coordinated set of activities across curriculum teaching, school ethos and environment, and family and community partnerships. A total of 45 studies (30 interventions) involving 496,299 participants were included in the analysis. Post-intervention outcomes demonstrated significant but small improvements in participants’ social and emotional adjustment (d = 0.220), behavioural adjustment (d = 0.134), and internalising symptoms (d = 0.109). Interventions were not shown to impact on academic achievement. Origin of study and the inclusion of a community component as part of a whole school approach were found to be significant moderators for social and emotional outcomes. Further research is required to determine the active ingredients of whole school interventions that we can better understand the components necessary to achieve successful outcomes.