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Effects of a Culturally Adapted Social-Emotional Learning Intervention Program on Students’ Mental Health

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Abstract

Student self-reports of resiliency and social-emotional internalizing problems were examined to determine intervention effects of a culturally adapted social and emotional learning (SEL) program. Data were analyzed from 20 culturally and linguistically diverse high school students who participated in a school-based 12-lesson SEL intervention and completed all data points (full pre, post, and follow-up). Participants were in grades 9 and 10 and included 16 male students. Students’ self reports of resiliency and internalizing symptoms were assessed before intervention, immediately after intervention, and at 2 months following the intervention. Statistically significant gains in self-reported resiliency immediately after intervention were obtained; furthermore, these gains in resiliency were maintained 2 months after the intervention. Reductions in students’ self-reported internalizing problems were not observed. Student reports of social validity suggest high levels of intervention acceptability and relevance for use with culturally and linguistic diverse high school students.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded in part by a faculty seed grant awarded to the second author by the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (UC/ACCORD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, University of California, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Kristine M. Cramer

  2. Psychology & Communication, Texas A & M Alliant University, CH 312A, Laredo, TX, 78041, USA

    Sara Castro-Olivo

Authors
  1. Kristine M. Cramer
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  2. Sara Castro-Olivo
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Correspondence to Kristine M. Cramer.

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Cramer, K.M., Castro-Olivo, S. Effects of a Culturally Adapted Social-Emotional Learning Intervention Program on Students’ Mental Health. Contemp School Psychol 20, 118–129 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-015-0057-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-015-0057-7

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