
Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, 'Refugees Well School' in Finland (RWS-FI) : a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
- Author
- Reeta Kankaanpää, Sanni Aalto, Mervi Vänskä, Riina Lepistö, Raija-Leena Punamäki, Emma Soye, Charles Watters, Arnfinn Andersen, Per Kristian Hilden, Ilse Derluyn (UGent) , An Verelst (UGent) and Kirsi Peltonen
- Organization
- Project
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- RefugeesWellSchool (RefugeesWellSchool: Preventive school-based interventions to promote the mental well-being of refugee and migrant adolescents)
- Abstract
- Background: Schools are natural environments in which to enhance young people's social and emotional skills, mental health, and contact between diverse groups, including students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. A layered or tiered provision of services is recommended as it can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents who variably show mental health problems (such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). The current protocol describes the study design for a multi-layered intervention model. The study will test the effectiveness of two interventions: a teacher-training intervention In-Service Teacher Training (INSETT) combined with targeted cognitive-behavioral treatment-based Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) and a classroom-focused preventive intervention Peer Integration and Enhancement Resources (PIER). We analyze, first, whether the interventions are effective in decreasing psychological distress and increasing positive resources, i.e., prosocial behavior and resilience among refugee and immigrant students. Second, we analyze which student-, school-, and parent-related factors mediate the possible beneficial changes. Third, we look at which groups the interventions are most beneficial to. Methods: A three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment, with a 1:1:1 allocation ratio, is applied in 16 schools that agreed to participate in the Refugees Well School interventions and effectiveness study. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting list control condition. Students, their parents, and teachers in intervention and control schools participated in the study at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at 6 to 12 months after the interventions. The primary effectiveness criterion variables are psychological distress (SDQ) symptoms, resilience (CYRM-12), and prosocial behavior (SDQ). Discussion: The current study presents a recommended universal approach of layered interventions aiming to reduce psychological distress and increase resilience among refugee and immigrant students. A combination of promotive, preventive, and targeted interventions may offer a holistic, ecological intervention package for schools to better address the needs of the whole group.
- Keywords
- Refugee, Immigrant, Adolescents, Multi-layered psychosocial interventions, Cognitive-behavioral treatment, Schools
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8772406
- MLA
- Kankaanpää, Reeta, et al. “Effectiveness of Psychosocial School Interventions in Finnish Schools for Refugee and Immigrant Children, ‘Refugees Well School’ in Finland (RWS-FI) : A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.” TRIALS, vol. 23, no. 1, 2022, doi:10.1186/s13063-021-05715-6.
- APA
- Kankaanpää, R., Aalto, S., Vänskä, M., Lepistö, R., Punamäki, R.-L., Soye, E., … Peltonen, K. (2022). Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, “Refugees Well School” in Finland (RWS-FI) : a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial. TRIALS, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05715-6
- Chicago author-date
- Kankaanpää, Reeta, Sanni Aalto, Mervi Vänskä, Riina Lepistö, Raija-Leena Punamäki, Emma Soye, Charles Watters, et al. 2022. “Effectiveness of Psychosocial School Interventions in Finnish Schools for Refugee and Immigrant Children, ‘Refugees Well School’ in Finland (RWS-FI) : A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.” TRIALS 23 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05715-6.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Kankaanpää, Reeta, Sanni Aalto, Mervi Vänskä, Riina Lepistö, Raija-Leena Punamäki, Emma Soye, Charles Watters, Arnfinn Andersen, Per Kristian Hilden, Ilse Derluyn, An Verelst, and Kirsi Peltonen. 2022. “Effectiveness of Psychosocial School Interventions in Finnish Schools for Refugee and Immigrant Children, ‘Refugees Well School’ in Finland (RWS-FI) : A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.” TRIALS 23 (1). doi:10.1186/s13063-021-05715-6.
- Vancouver
- 1.Kankaanpää R, Aalto S, Vänskä M, Lepistö R, Punamäki R-L, Soye E, et al. Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, “Refugees Well School” in Finland (RWS-FI) : a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial. TRIALS. 2022;23(1).
- IEEE
- [1]R. Kankaanpää et al., “Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, ‘Refugees Well School’ in Finland (RWS-FI) : a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial,” TRIALS, vol. 23, no. 1, 2022.
@article{8772406, abstract = {{Background: Schools are natural environments in which to enhance young people's social and emotional skills, mental health, and contact between diverse groups, including students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. A layered or tiered provision of services is recommended as it can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents who variably show mental health problems (such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). The current protocol describes the study design for a multi-layered intervention model. The study will test the effectiveness of two interventions: a teacher-training intervention In-Service Teacher Training (INSETT) combined with targeted cognitive-behavioral treatment-based Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) and a classroom-focused preventive intervention Peer Integration and Enhancement Resources (PIER). We analyze, first, whether the interventions are effective in decreasing psychological distress and increasing positive resources, i.e., prosocial behavior and resilience among refugee and immigrant students. Second, we analyze which student-, school-, and parent-related factors mediate the possible beneficial changes. Third, we look at which groups the interventions are most beneficial to. Methods: A three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment, with a 1:1:1 allocation ratio, is applied in 16 schools that agreed to participate in the Refugees Well School interventions and effectiveness study. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting list control condition. Students, their parents, and teachers in intervention and control schools participated in the study at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at 6 to 12 months after the interventions. The primary effectiveness criterion variables are psychological distress (SDQ) symptoms, resilience (CYRM-12), and prosocial behavior (SDQ). Discussion: The current study presents a recommended universal approach of layered interventions aiming to reduce psychological distress and increase resilience among refugee and immigrant students. A combination of promotive, preventive, and targeted interventions may offer a holistic, ecological intervention package for schools to better address the needs of the whole group.}}, articleno = {{79}}, author = {{Kankaanpää, Reeta and Aalto, Sanni and Vänskä, Mervi and Lepistö, Riina and Punamäki, Raija-Leena and Soye, Emma and Watters, Charles and Andersen, Arnfinn and Hilden, Per Kristian and Derluyn, Ilse and Verelst, An and Peltonen, Kirsi}}, issn = {{1745-6215}}, journal = {{TRIALS}}, keywords = {{Refugee,Immigrant,Adolescents,Multi-layered psychosocial interventions,Cognitive-behavioral treatment,Schools}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{14}}, title = {{Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, 'Refugees Well School' in Finland (RWS-FI) : a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05715-6}}, volume = {{23}}, year = {{2022}}, }
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