The effectiveness of school-based skills-training programs promoting mental health in adolescents.

The current study aims to examine the effectiveness of school-based skills-training programs targeting skills to deal with performance anxiety or social skills. A multi-informant (i.e. students, parents and trainers) and multi-method (i.e. questionnaires and physiological measurements) approach will be used to assess program targets (i.e. skills to deal with performance anxiety or social skills), direct program outcomes (i.e. performance or social anxiety) and mental health outcomes (i.e. stress, internalizing and externalizing behavior, well-being and self-esteem), as well as specific moderators (i.e. characteristics of students, parents and trainers, social support, perfectionism, stressful life events, perceived parental pressure, treatment alliance, positive parenting behavior and program integrity).

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based skills-training programs targeting skills to deal with performance anxiety or social skills in promoting the mental health of adolescents and to examine moderators of its effectiveness.

Effectiveness:
- Performance anxiety skills-training program will improve skills to reduce performance anxiety (i.e. coping skills, including negative thought restructuring and managing emotions), resulting in a reduction in students’ performance anxiety (i.e. fear of failure and test anxiety) and in improved mental health.
- Social skills training program will improve students social skills and thereby reduce their social anxiety and improve their mental health.
- Both skills-training programs will reduce performance or social anxiety and improve the mental health of students (i.e. reduced stress and internalizing and externalizing behavior, and increased well-being and self-esteem).

Moderators:
- Student and parent characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and social support, perfectionism, stressful life events, perceived parenting pressure, treatment alliance and positive parenting behavior).
- Trainer characteristics (gender, ethnicity, education level, level of experience and expertise)
- Program integrity

Before the start of the training (T1) and after termination of the training (T2).

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted for both school-based skills-training programs targeting: 1) performance anxiety and 2) social and emotion regulation skills. Both skills-training programs are compared with a control waitlist condition.