The impact of a universal social emotional intervention on students’ mental wellbeing in a secondary public school in Qatar

Abstract

AbstractThis paper is based on a study that explored the impact of a practitioner-designed social emotional program on students’ wellbeing based on the results of the WEMWBS scale in a public secondary school in Qatar. This cluster randomized controlled trial study (RCT) involved the assignment of two groups; an intervention group (n = 82) to receive a universal social emotional intervention and a control group (n = 81) to continue with the usual practices without attending or participating in any social emotional interventions. Students in both groups rated their wellbeing levels before the intervention (baseline) and after the intervention (post intervention). The results revealed a significant improvement in students’ wellbeing after participating in the SEL intervention with an adjusted effect size of (EF = 0.76). The paper discusses the results of this study in the light of the program’s design and social context.

Keywords

• Social emotional learning
• wellbeing
• mental health
• school-based interventions