New Beginnings: Evaluation of a short social-emotional intervention for primary-aged children

We report on an effectiveness trial of 'New Beginnings', a short social-emotional intervention for primary-aged children. The sample comprised 253 children (aged 6-11) attending 37 primary schools across England. Data on social and emotional competence and mental health difficulties were collected using child self-report, and parent- and teacher-informant report questionnaires in a pre-test-post-test control group design. One hundred and fifty-nine children took part in the intervention, and 94 children acted as a comparison group. Children in the intervention group attended weekly 45-minute small group sessions for seven weeks. Child self-report data indicated that the intervention was successful in promoting social and emotional competence, and that improvements were sustained at seven-week follow-up. However, this finding was not replicated in either the teacher or parental data. We conclude that future iterations of the intervention may need to be more intensive and lengthy in order to produce changes in behaviour that are salient to teachers and parents. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.