Stress‐prevention in secondary schools: online‐ versus face‐to‐face‐training

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the evaluation of an internet‐delivered stress‐prevention program for adolescents as a possible alternative for school‐based implementation of mental health promotion.

A total of 904 adolescents in grades eight and nine were assigned to four treatment conditions (online‐training in school, online‐training via internet from home, school‐based face‐to‐face training, control group without intervention). Before and after the training interval, all adolescents were questioned about their knowledge regarding stress and coping and their appraisal of stress‐evoking situations. The participants self‐assessed their perceived stress vulnerability, their coping behavior and their stress symptoms. In addition, the training groups were asked about their training acceptance.

The results show a considerable knowledge gain for participants of the online‐program. The number of positive cognitions in stress‐evoking situations also increased, although this effect was only observed in the school‐based online‐training setting. Regarding training acceptance, the best results were obtained for participants of the classical face‐to‐face intervention.

Future research should examine factors that influence compliance rates in internet‐delivered prevention programs.

Although online‐prevention cannot completely substitute school‐based face‐to‐face‐training, it can be seen as an effective and economic complement to conventional methods of health promotion.

This paper presents not only a comparative evaluation of internet‐ and school‐based health promotion targeting adolescents, but also a comparison of the effects of online‐prevention under “real” and “ideal” conditions.