The development of socio-emotional competence in middle childhood is an essential acquisition that will enable a child to negotiate interaction with peers and others (Robbins & Rutter, 1990). A substantial body of research has arisen concerned with the identification and prevention of risk factors that might impede certain children's ability to thrive socially and emotionally (Doge & Coie, 1987, Parker & Asher, 1993). This expansion in prevention and evidence-based practice has led to changes in national policy. As a consequence of the revised Children's Act (2004) the promotion of emotional health and well-being in schools, through both the curriculum and school-based intervention, has become a recognised priority. The studies in this thesis describe a pragmatic evaluation of a Year 3 intervention, (Pyramid), which is designed to be delivered in school and targeted at children who are quiet, behaviourally inhibited and at risk of social isolation (Pyramid, 2007). Children's socio-emotional health was measured using the teacher-rated version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) both pre- and post-intervention and at a twelve-month follow-up. The views of the children who attended were elicited through a series of focus groups. Pyramid attendees showed greater levels of improvement than Comparison group classmates at both post-intervention time-points. Evidence of preservation of gains for Pyramid attendees was also shown at the twelve-month follow-up. Emergent themes from the focus groups supported these results with Pyramid attendee children reporting self-recognised improvements post-intervention and with no personal costs experienced as a result of the intervention. These results augment both the existing evidence base for Pyramid (Davies, 1999, Fitzherbert, 1985, Skinner, 1996) and add to the evidence base regarding the efficacy of school-based preventative interventions. This thesis proposes a novel conceptual model for the monitoring of socio-emotional health and wellbeing in primary schools and highlights the importance of the need to discern how these interventions can influence future policy and practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:499575 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Ohl, Madeleine Anna |
| Publisher | University of West London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/383/ |
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