The students at a rural middle school in South Central Appalachia are struggling with increased rates of depression and anxiety, toxic stress, and multiple ACEs with few resources to help. With the input of community stakeholders, four medical students from the ETSU Quillen College of Medicine organized and conducted a pre and post survey assessing sixth grade student’s (n=60) perceived stress, coping skills, and parental/guardian relationships before and after four classes focusing on mental health awareness, positive and negative coping skills, and resilience. Pre/post surveys used modified versions of the perceived stress scale, parent adolescent scale, and coping scale for children and youth. Statistically significant relationships were found between the different scales, showing: students who had better coping skills were more likely to perceive less stress in their lives; students who perceived more stress after learning positive coping skills reported using more positive coping skills; and on pre-survey, students who reported a better parent-adolescent relationship also reported using more positive coping skills. Students who reported a less healthy parent-adolescent relationship also reported having more stress in their lives. It was also identified that most students reported academics and grades as well as lack of friendships as their main stressors. Long-term interventions with more sessions are needed in the future to continue to help students in rural middle schools as well as further expand on lessons to better serve these children's needs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-2177 |
| Date | 25 April 2023 |
| Creators | Dodson, Kirsten, Botros, Marina, Richet, Shane, Holmes, Kaylen |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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