Eco-anxiety, Hope, Mental Health, Psychological Distress, Tolerance to Distress
Conditions
Keywords
Art-based interventions, Philosophical inquiry, eco-anxiety, children, schools, mental health
Brief summary
Objective: To examine the impact of climate change on children's mental health by comparing the effectiveness of an arts only intervention (ABI) and an arts and philosophy-based intervention (APBI) on children's eco-anxiety, tolerance to distress and hope for the future in school settings. The investigators hypothesized that the children assigned to the combined arts and philosophy intervention would show reductions in self-reported eco-anxiety, as well as increases in tolerance to distress and hope for the future in the context of climate change, when compared to children assigned to the arts-only intervention. Setting: This study is conducted in public primary schools from England. Participants: Participants are students in grades 3 to 6. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome is self-reported eco-anxiety scores. Secondary outcomes are self-reported tolerance to distress, hope for the future and mental health (depression and anxiety symptoms).
Interventions
OTHERArt and philosophy intervention (APBI)
8 session intervention delivered during school time. Each session involves an art activity with a corresponding philosophical discussion.
OTHERArt based intervention (ABI)
A 8 session intervention delivered during school time. Each session involve a creative arts activity.
Sponsors
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Bishop's University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
5 Years to 12 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* being an elementary school student
Exclusion criteria
* not being an elementary school student
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eco-anxiety | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks | Self-reported child eco-anxiety Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 33 Higher scores mean worse outcomes |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance to distress | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks | Self-reported child tolerance to distress Distress Intolerance Index for Youth Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 36 Higher scores mean worse outcomes |
| Hope | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks | Self-reported child hope 1 item house scale: Thinking about climate change, how hopeful would you say you are that things will get better in the future? Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 4 Higher score means a better outcome |
| Mental health | From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks | Self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms Selected items from the anxiety and depression subscales of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-III Minimum score: 0 Maximum score anxiety: 9 Maximum score depression: 15 Higher scores mean a worse outcome |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed