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  • Research & Results
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  • Comparing Two School Behavioral Healt...

Comparing Two School Behavioral Health Programs to Improve Students' Academic Performance and Mental Health

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Project Summary  

This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.

What is the research about?

Many children in the United States who need mental health services don’t get them. These services may not be available; children and their families may also worry about the stigma of getting help for mental health. School behavioral health, or SBH, programs are one way to make sure children get the services they need. In SBH programs, community mental health providers work with schools to offer social, emotional, behavioral, and academic support to students. In this study, the research team is looking at how well two SBH programs improve middle school students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning.

Who can this research help?

Results may help school administrators who are considering SBH programs.

What is the research team doing?

Students from 20 middle schools—10 in Maryland and 10 in South Carolina—are taking part in this study. In both programs, clinicians from local mental health centers in each state work with the schools to address the social, emotional, and academic needs of students. Clinicians include social workers and licensed counselors. The research team is assigning 10 schools in each state by chance to implement one of two SBH programs.

One program is called Wellness. Wellness includes 

  • A quality review. This review may look at things like how well schools promote mental health and screen for mental health problems.
  • Clinicians and families working together. This work may include things like identifying problems and meeting students’ mental health goals.
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. CBT helps students learn skills to address problems like anxiety and depression and improve behavior in school.
  • Training for clinicians on each of the three elements listed above.

The second program is called Partnership. It includes the Wellness program, plus training and support to help clinicians, teachers, and a family leader at each school work together to reduce the stigma of using SBH services. Teachers in the second program can use a program called the Guide to promote good mental health in their students.

Schools are taking part in the SBH programs for three years. The research team is surveying students who receive services at the start of the study and again every 90 days. The team is asking about

  • The amount of services received
  • How satisfied students are with the services received
  • Social functioning, such as relationships with family and peers
  • Emotional and behavioral functioning, such as anxiety, depression, or disruptive behavior
  • Mental health knowledge and perceived stigma
  • The quality of services and supports provided in school
  • Students’ relationships with their school therapists
  • Parent participation

Each year, the research team is collecting data from each school on students’ grades, attendance, lateness, and discipline problems. The research team is also following up with a group of middle school students from the two SBH programs when they go to high school to assess their risky behaviors, such as alcohol use.  

Students, parents, school counselors and administrators, psychologists, social workers, doctors, and teachers are helping to plan and carry out the study.

Research methods at a glance

Design Element Description
Design Randomized controlled trial
Population 2,800 middle school students at 20 schools who are receiving school-based behavioral health services and their parents
Interventions/
Comparators
  • Wellness
  • Partnership
Outcomes

Primary: academic grades, academic attendance rates, discipline rates, perceptions of school climate, access to services, satisfaction with services, social functioning, emotional/behavioral functioning, emergent risk behavior

Secondary: mental health knowledge and perceived stigma, overall standard of services and supports provided in school, client–therapist relationship, parent participation and engagement 

Timeframe 1-year follow-up for primary outcomes

More on this Project  

PCORI Stories

Engagement Awards Teams Ride Momentum to Research Projects
Read a feature story that highlights how three Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards teams clinched additional PCORI funding to channel the lessons and successes of their work into three new research projects -- which includes this study -- that answer patient-centered research questions.

Project Details

Principal Investigator
Mark Weist, PhD
Project Status
In progress; Not yet recruiting
Project Title
Patient-Centered Enhancements in School Behavioral Health: A Randomized Trial
Board Approval Date
November 2018
Project End Date
March 2025
Organization
University of South Carolina
Year Awarded
2018
State
South Carolina
Project Type
Research Project
Health Conditions  
Mental/Behavioral Health
Anxiety
Depression
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Intervention Strategies
Behavioral Interventions
Other Clinical Interventions
Other Health Services Interventions
Technology Interventions
Training and Education Interventions
Populations
Children -- 18 and under
Low Health Literacy/Numeracy
Low Income
Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Rural
Urban
Women
Funding Announcement
Improving Healthcare Systems
Project Budget
$5,090,143
Study Registration Information
HSRP20193261
NCT03901274
Page Last Updated: 
February 25, 2020

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PCORI 2021 and Beyond: Opportunities for Funding and Involvement in Patient-Centered Research
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