A School-based Prevention Intervention to Promote Wellbeing in Preadolescents (DDS)

Diario Della Salute (DDS), a School-based Prevention Intervention to Promote Well-being for Grade 7 Students (12-13 Years)

This is a field study aiming to evaluate a school-based prevention intervention, Diario della Salute (DDS).

Diario della Salute (DDS) is a school-based prevention intervention based on the following theories: social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977; 1986) theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1987) emotional intelligence theory (Goleman, 1997) theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) transtheoretical model of change (Prochaska, Diclemente, 1982; 1992). DDS is composed by: tools for children and their parents on health and social and emotional well-being issues: a diary for teens telling the story of four same-age students (e.g. experimenting with risky behaviors, conflicting feelings and thoughts, need for independence and control), a diary for parents telling the experience of a mum and a dad with teenage children (e.g. problems in the relationship with teenage children, family conflict, parental disappointment, etc.); five highly-standardized interactive lessons (2-4 hours each) on health issues administered by previously trained teachers. Assignment of schools to study arms (DDS intervention vs. no intervention) will be cluster-randomized. Schools will be matched by number of students and average socioeconomic status. In some study areas schools will not be allocated by chance, but they will be analyzed separately from other schools. Two anonymous surveys focusing on main outcomes (wellbeing, tobacco smoking, alcohol, physical activity and diet) will be before and after the intervention. Pre and post surveys will be linked through an anonymous code (Galanti, 2006).

universal prevention, primary prevention, health promotion, wellbeing, smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity, emotional and social skills

DDS is composed by tools for children and their parents on health and social and emotional well-being issues: a diary for teens telling the story of four same-age students (e.g. experimenting with risky behaviors, conflicting feelings and thoughts, need for independence and control), a diary for parents telling the experience of a mum and a dad with teenage children (e.g. problems in the relationship with teenage children, family conflict, parental disappointment, etc.); five highly-standardized interactive lessons (2-4 hours each) on health issues administered by previously trained teachers.

Subjective well-being is defined as 'a person's cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life' (Diener, Lucas, & Oshi, 2002, p. 63).

Aggression is generally defined as behaviors that are intended to hurt or harm others by damaging their physical and psychological well-being and includes physically and verbally aggressive behaviors such as hitting, pushing, kicking, and threatening, etc (Dodge et al. 2007).

Inclusion Criteria: schools providing consensus to study participation Exclusion Criteria: schools involved in structured prevention programs with similar objectives

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211.

Dodge, K.A., Coie, J.D., & Lynam, D. (2006). Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth. In W. Damon (Series Ed.), & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.) (Ed.). Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 3: Social, Emotional, and Personality Development6th edition (pp. 719-788). Wiley.

Galanti MR, Siliquini R, Cuomo L, Melero JC, Panella M, Faggiano F; EU-DAP study group. Testing anonymous link procedures for follow-up of adolescents in a school-based trial: the EU-DAP pilot study. Prev Med. 2007 Feb;44(2):174-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.07.019. Epub 2006 Sep 18.

Gardner, H. (1987). Beyond a modular view of mind. In W. Damon (Ed.), New Directions for Child Development, Tenth Anniversary Edition. Also in W. Damon (Ed.) (1988), Child Development Today and Tomorrow (222-239). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Prochaska J.O. and DiClemente C.C. (1982). Trans-theoretical therapy - toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 19(3):276-288

Prochaska JO, DiClemente CC, Norcross JC. In search of how people change. Applications to addictive behaviors. Am Psychol. 1992 Sep;47(9):1102-14. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.47.9.1102.