FRIENDS for Youth
FRIENDS for Youth is part of a suite of FRIENDS programmes (including Fun FRIENDS and FRIENDS for Life), which aim to improve resilience (or coping) skills in children and reduce anxiety and improve mental health and wellbeing.
The programme is delivered in schools, and is based on cognitive behavioural therapy and positive psychology.
It is a universal programme (however, it has also been implemented as a selective and indicated programme, and has been targeted on the basis of income poverty).
Sessions involve large and small group work, workbook exercises, role plays, games, activities and quizzes, to help children to develop problem solving and coping plans, to use positive self-talk and evaluate themselves realistically, and to use relaxation techniques.
EIF Programme Assessment
Child outcomes
This programme can affect outcomes for children in Active and healthy, physical and mental wellbeing.
According to the best available evidence for this programme's impact, it can achieve the following positive outcomes for children:
Supporting children's mental health and wellbeing
Reduced anxiety
based on study 1
- Statement: 0.53-point reduction on the Spence Children's Anxiety scale (self-report)
- Score: 12
- Timeframe: Immediately after the intervention
based on study 1
- Statement: 0.98-point reduction on the Spence Children's Anxiety scale for parents (parent report)
- Score: 14
- Timeframe: Immediately after the intervention
This programme also has evidence of supporting positive outcomes for couples, parents or families that may be relevant to a commissioning decision. Please see About the evidence for more detail.
Who is it for?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to the following age-groups:
Preadolescents Adolescents
How is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to implementation through these delivery models:
- Group
Where is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation in these settings:
- Secondary school
- Out-patient health setting
How is it targeted?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation as:
- Targeted selective
Where has it been implemented?
- Brazil
- Canada
- Finland
- Hong Kong
- Ireland
- Japan
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Scotland
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
Ireland provision
Ireland evaluation
About the programme
What happens during the delivery?
How is it delivered?
- FRIENDS for Youth is delivered in five sessions of 2 to 2.5 hours’ duration each, by one social worker, teacher, health worker, or psychologist to groups of children. In the best-evidenced implementation of FRIENDS, the programme was delivered in 10 sessions of one hour each.
What happens during the intervention?
- Sessions involve large and small group work, workbook exercises, role plays, games, activities, and quizzes. In addition, to reinforce and generalise the skills introduced in the sessions, homework tasks are assigned at the end of each session. It has three main components:
- Learning/behaviour – involves helping children and adolescents to develop six-step problem-solving plans, using coping step plans, and identify role models and support networks.
- Cognitive – involves helping children and adolescents to use positive self-talk, challenge negative self-talk, evaluate themselves realistically, and reward themselves.
- Psychological – involves teaching children and adolescents to be aware of their body clues, to use relaxation techniques, and to self-regulate.
What are the implementation requirements?
Who can deliver it?
- The practitioner who delivers this programme is a psychologist, teacher or allied health professional with NFQ-7/8 level qualifications.
What are the training requirements?
- The practitioners have eight hours of programme training. Booster training of practitioners is recommended.
How are the practitioners supervised?
- Supervision of practitioners is not required.
What are the systems for maintaining fidelity?
- Training manual
- Other online material
- Face-to-face training
- Facilitator manual
Is there a licensing requirement?
There is a licence required to run this programme.
How does it work? (Theory of Change)
How does it work?
- Coping skills help youth to manage their anxiety and protect themselves from developing anxiety disorders.
- The programme aims to teach coping skills such as understanding and managing emotions to assist youth in responding to uncomfortable emotions in appropriate and helpful ways.
- In the short term, youth have better awareness of their emotions and helpful emotion management techniques that enable them to better cope with stressful or uncomfortable situations.
- In the longer term, youth will be less likely to develop anxiety disorders.
Intended outcomes
- Active and healthy, physical and mental wellbeing
- Achieving in all areas of learning and development
Contact details
Casey Dick
Friends Resilience
licensing@friendsresilience.org
https://friendsresilience.org/
About the evidence
FRIENDS for Youth’s most rigorous evidence comes from an RCT, which was conducted in Ireland. This is a rigorously conducted (level 3) study, which has identified a statistically significant positive impact on a number of child outcomes. A programme receives the same rating as its most robust study, and so FRIENDS for Youth receives a level 3 rating overall.
Study 1
| Citation: | Rodgers & Dunsmuir (2013) |
| Design: | RCT |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Sample: | 62 children between 12 and 13 years old, recruited from a disadvantaged catchment area |
| Timing: | Post-intervention |
| Child outcomes: |
|
| Other outcomes: | |
| Study rating: | 3 |
Rodgers, A., & Dunsmuir, S. (2013). A controlled evaluation of the ‘FRIENDS for Life’ emotional resiliency programme on overall anxiety levels, anxiety subtype levels and school adjustment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(1), 13–19
Available at
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.12030/abstract
Study design and sample
This study is a rigorously conducted RCT, with random assignment of pupils to the intervention or to a wait-list control.
The study was conducted in Ireland, with a sample of pupils from three schools located in a disadvantaged catchment area in a major city. The children were between 12 and 13 years of age, and were largely English-speaking and White Irish.
Measures
The study assessed children’s anxiety on the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), using the child self-report version and the parent-report version. In addition, the study assessed school adjustment on the child-report and teacher-report versions of the Child Rating Scale (CRS).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child outcomes. At post-test, there were statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups favouring the intervention group on child- and parent-reported anxiety.