Developing Hopeful Minds: Can Teaching Hope Improve Well-being and Protective Factors in Children?

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the efficacy of Hopeful Minds, a 12 week hope based school intervention programme in a sample of 153 pre- and early- adolescent secondary school children (11–14 years) in the North West of Ireland. This study used a one-group, pretest-posttest design to determine whether participants experienced changes regarding their hope, well-being, and a range of known protective factors. Results from a Wilcoxin Signed Ranks test showed significant increases in children’s hope scores post intervention. Resilience and adaptive coping skills of stoicism and social support seeking were also significantly improved. Although pre–post intervention improvements in well-being or emotional regulation/arousal scores were observed, results were non-significant. However, further analysis examined associations between hope and a range of well-being and protective factors using linear regression. Hope was found to be significantly associated with improvements in each of the well-being scores of anxiety, depression, resilience, positive emotion, reduced negative emotion, emotional control, stoicism, social support seeking and self-care. No associations were found between hope and rumination. This study builds upon the extant evidence for the implementation of the Hopeful Minds school based intervention. Further, the study demonstrates that teaching and thereby increasing hope has a significant positive impact on child and adolescent well-being and a range of protective factors; factors known to buffer against mental ill health and suicide.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• resilience
• adolescence
• hope theory
• preventative mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

K. Kirby

Dr Karen Kirby (PhD, MSc, BSc, C.Psychol) is a senior lecturer of Psychology, based at Ulster University. Dr Kirby specialises in child, adolescent and family mental health, developmental trauma, CBT, family therapy and schema therapy (teaching, researching, and practicing in these subject areas). She is an active researcher and full member of the Psychology Research Institute, and Institute of Mental Health Sciences. Recent studies have evaluated prevalence and predictors of mental health issues in childhood and evaluating school mental health programmes. She has published over 70+ peer reviewed publications and conference proceedings, book chapters, and has secured over 1 million in grant funding (either as a research collaborator or chief investigator). Dr Kirby is also a Chartered/Registered Practitioner Psychologist (counselling & health specialisms).

S. Sweeney

Sharon Sweeney completed her MSc in Applied Psychology (Mental Health & Psychological Therapies) at Ulster University in 2018. Her research interests include adverse childhood events, mental health across the lifespan and applied behavioural change.

C. Armour

Cherie Armour is a Professor of Psychological Trauma and Mental Health in the School of Psychology at Queens University Belfast. Professor Armour is the Director of the Research Centre for Stress Trauma and Related Conditions (STARC). Cherie has published extensively (>140) in the field of Psychotraumatology and Mental Health. Cherie has a particular interest in understanding risk and resilience factors for adverse psychological outcomes after the experience of trauma. To date, Professor Armour has delivered more than 120 conference presentations and is regularly invited to speak about her research at universities, conferences and events across the world. Cherie has several research awards for her contributions to the field of traumatic stress. Cherie leads a multi-million-pound programme of research. Professor Armour also holds a number of leadership positions external to the University. She is a current member of the board of directors for the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), the past President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society (UKPTS) and the Associate Editor of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology. Professor Armour also holds a number of editorial positions on several internationally leading journals, for example, the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, the Journal of Traumatic Stress Studies, and Psychological Trauma; Theory, Research, Practice and Policy.

K. Goetzke

Kathryn Goetzke is Chief Mood Officer at The Mood Factory, Founder of iFred, and a Strategic Consultant for Innovative Analysis. She is creator of Hopeful Minds and Hopeful Cities, author of The Biggest Little Book About Hope, and host of The Hope Matrix Podcast. Kathryn has a BA in Psychology, and MBA in International Business.

M. Dunne

Marie Dunne is the director of Resilo (a registered charity supporting child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing through school mental health programmes). Marie’s work as a specialist in the field of mental health promotion has involved supporting the implementation of the Regional Mental Health Promotion Strategy within the WHSCT area. Marie has worked regionally, locally and on a cross-border basis on numerous initiatives and facilitates a range of training programmes including mental health first aid, cognitive behaviour life skills training, stress management and mental health promotion training.

M. Davidson

Mairead Davidson is a teacher educator at Ulster University, Northern Ireland. She is Course Director for the PGCE in Home Economics and also teaches on Education courses at Undergraduate and Masters Level. Mairead is an early career researcher, her research interests include Initial Teacher Education, Home Economics education and health and wellbeing. Mairead also sits on a number of Subject Advisory panels supporting the design, development and delivery of curriculum qualifications.

M. Belfer

Myron Belfer is a Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, and Senior Associate in Psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Boston. Dr. Belfer is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is on the Affiliated Faculty of the Harvard Center for the Developing Child.He received an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Welfare. Dr. Belfer is former Senior Adviser in the Department of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse at the World Health Organization in Geneva where he led the child mental health program from 2000 to 2005. In that capacity he was instrumental in supporting a number of global child mental health initiatives. He is past-President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP). He co-directs the Children’s Hospital Boston Global Child Mental Health Observership Program and directed for the Harvard Center on the Developing Child a comprehensive child mental health needs assessment in schools in Shanghai with Chinese colleagues. He was a consultant to the Temasek Foundation (Singapore) project on child mental health capacity building for disaster response in Indonesia.