Promoting children’s social and emotional well-being: An evaluation of a trial of the Positive Living Skills Primary School Wellbeing Program

Child mental health problems are common and their prevalence is not declining despite an increase in the use of services. A recent Australian survey found almost 14% of 4- to 17-year-olds have a diagnosable mental health problem which equates to almost 600,000 Australian children and young people (Hafekost et al., 2016). Fostering child and family resilience to the predisposing social, environmental and emotional factors of mental health problems, may mitigate their negative effects.
The purpose of the current study was to examine the efficacy of the Positive Living Skills Primary School Wellbeing Program in promoting children’s social and emotional wellbeing from the perspectives of Stage 2 and Stage 3 teachers (n = 8) and children (n = 49) at a regional primary school where the PLS Primary School Wellbeing Program was being implemented. Teacher and child date showed that that PLS was easy to implement, scripted yet flexible, sequenced appropriately, modifiable if needed, and cognitively aligned to the children’s abilities. Positive Living Skills learning experiences were enjoyable and meaningful for children, and teachers and children were embedding PLS concepts at school and beginning to transfer PLS skills to their home lives.