A narrative systematic review of life skills education: effectiveness, research gaps and priorities

Figures & data

Table 1. Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Inclusion	Exclusion
Research topic and scope of the research, is it relevant to the research question?	Research topic and scope not relevant to the research question
Concepts and definitions of terms are relevant to research questions.	Concepts and definitions of terms are not relevant to the research questions
Key variables and measures are relevant to research questions	Key variables and measures are not clear and there is no relevance to the research questions
Qualitative studies, quantitative studies, observations, case studies, experimental studies, action research, reports on status of the topic relevant to research questions, conceptual and theoretical frameworks	Articles without any concrete research design, e.g. concept papers, proposals
Studies on adolescents aged 10–19 years	Studies adults, young children, teachers, organizations, business leaders, parents, couples
Articles published till 2016

Table 2. Applied search details.

Databases searched	Subheadings and key words used	Articles searched	Articles identified
Science Direct	Life skills in high school AND prevention/adolescents	4000	191
	Life skills in high school AND prevention
	Adolescent community development AND programmes
	Adolescent coping skills AND prevention
Wiley	Community development AND behaviour AND adolescents	120	6
Springer	Social Skills AND behaviour AND adolescent	1520	89
	Life Skills AND Adolescents AND Prevention
	Community development AND adolescents
EBSCOhost	Life skills AND prevention/AND adolescents	1281	162
	Coping Skills AND prevention AND adolescents
	Life skills AND behavior AND adolescents
	Social Skills AND behavior AND adolescent
	Life skills AND prevention/AND adolescents
Google Scholars	Life skills Education	300	19
Google	Life skills	300	67

Figure 1. Flow chart of stages of literature search.

Table 3. Selected study details and quality assessment.

Author/country	Definition/theories	Sample size/study design	Outcome measures	Results	Quality rating
Holt et al. (2008)	Life skills: skills that are required to deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life	12 males, mean age = 17.1 years	Field work	Lack of evidence athletes were directly taught about life skills that were reported rather the coach created opportunities for the student to demonstrate initiatives	Strong
Canada	Ecological systems	Data obtained from 10 practices & 10 games	Ethnography
			60 h of observation 2 week period interviews between 30 min and 1 h
Botvin et al. (2001)	Addresses major cognitive, attitudinal, psychological, and social factors that are related to tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use	3621 (69%) adolescents at the pre-test and post-test (gr.7) and 1 year follow up (gr.8), Mean age = 12.9 yrs	Drug use, polydrug use	Students in experiment group had significant lower level of drug involvement over the 2 year of the study than the control group.	Strong
USA	Cognitive – behavioural approach	Block randomized design, 16 school received intervention, 13 school in control group	Behavioural intentions
			Normative intentions
			Drug attitudes & knowledge
			Social and personal competence
			Breath samples (carbon monoxide) were collected
Maryam et al. (2011)	Life skills: abilities that help promote mental wellbeing and capability in young people as they face the realities of life	160 high school male students, Pseudo experimental research	Coppersmith self-esteem questionnaire (58 items)	LS programs could enhance levels of self-esteem in subjects	Moderate
Iran	Social learning theory	Two groups; study group and control group	Demographic checklist	Findings of the study revealed efficiency of the program
Givaudan et al. (2008)	A team against AIDS: life skills enhancing knowledge about contraception and sexuality and adapts the skills and methodology to HIV prevention	2064 high school students	Self-report questionnaire 174 items about HIV/AIDS, subject norms and attitudes about use of condoms, self-efficacy in condom use, self-knowledge, decision-making, communication, intentions to use condoms and behaviour	Positive effect over a medium time span (1 year follow up period) on knowledge and self-efficacy in condom use results are more effective of the program that is interactive and promotes life skills such as decision-making, self-efficacy and reflection on norms and attitudes	Strong
Mexico	Theory of reasoned action Social learning theory	4 schools, Mean age = 15.97 years
		2nd measurement = 1877
		3rd measurement = 1696
		4th measurement = 1793
		Quasi- experimental study
		With 4 measurement occasions
Goudas et al. (2006)	GOAL: designed to teach adolescents a sense of personal control and confidence about their future for better decisions and better citizens	73, grade 7 students (M = 35 & F= 38)	Physical fitness tests	Students who received the program demonstrated enhanced knowledge about life skills and higher self-beliefs for personal goal setting	Weak
Greece		2 classes- experimental group 2 control group	Knowledge test	The effects of life skills training were retained one month after the intervention
		Pre-post test	Self-beliefs
		Following the program the control group was given a post-test, the primary intervention group was given a 1 month follow up
Goudas and Giannoudis (2008)	SUPER: sport-based adaptation of the Going for Goal program which used sport metaphors to teach adolescents a sense of personal control and confidence about their future and make better decisions and become better citizens	165- 6th & 8th graders (mean age 12.5 &14 0.5 years)	Sport-skills tests	Life-skills training resulted in an improvement in sport skills relative to the control group	Weak
Greece		Four schools	Knowledge tests
		Experimental and control group	Self-beliefs
Jegannathan et al. (2014)	Making healthy choices, adopt healthy behavior and reduce high-risk behavior by imparting life skills	168 young people (M = 92, F=76) 10th grade students	Attitude Toward Suicide (ATTS), Youth Self Report (YSR) & Life Skills development Scale-Adolescent Form (LSDS-AF)	Among all girls, scores improved in three out of four Life Skills Dimensions whereas boys improved on only one dimension. Boys showed improvement on three dimensions with no improvement among girls.	Moderate
Cambodia		6 classes randomly selected from 2 schools one experimental and the other as control school
Lillehoj et al. (2004)	Promote competency skills and provide knowledge base concerning substance use avoidance	Randomized block design, M = 12.3 yrs, 36 schools-3	Social assertiveness	Girls in the preventive intervention demonstrated a slower increase over time in substance use and a faster increase in social assertiveness.	Strong
USA	Social learning theory	Experimental groups: (a) the school-based LST plus the family-focused SFP: 10–14, (b) LST only, or (c) a minimal contact control group.	Substance initiation
	Problem behaviour theory		Internalizing
Menrath et al. (2012)	Fit and strong for life and lions quest-foster life skills and self-efficacy and include the prevention of substance abuse (cigarettes, alcohol, and drug consumption) as their primary objective	102 classes, 1561 pupils randomised controlled intervention study with repeated measurements over time	Subjective health and well-being, HRQoL, the child’s behaviour and general life satisfaction. Questionnaires self-reported life skills: social competences & self-efficacy	Significant positive effects regarding the reduction of smoking and improvements in the students life skills in the intervention group. School-based life skills programmes have a positive effect on smoking prevention regardless of socioeconomic status	Strong
Germany
Naseri and Babakhani (2014)	Life and social skills training reduces violence, aggression, and destructive behavior in adolescents	60 delinquent adolescent boys, a higher than average (45) score in the AGQ aggression test	AGQ aggression questionnaire	Shows that physical and verbal aggression of adolescent boys significantly reduced because of life skills training, included anger control, problem solving and decision-making, self-cognition, confronting stress, and communication skills	Strong
Iran	Cognitive-behavioral treatments	Pre-test and post-test with two control and experimental groups
Parvathy and Pillai (2015)	Life skills abilities for adoptive and positive behavior that enables an individual to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life	57 students;boys &girls of 14–18 years, experimental study; pre- post study is conducted with experiment-delayed group	Knowledge level	The study has revealed significant impact of life Skills Education training on adolescents.	Weak
India	Social learning theory		Self-awareness
			Empathy skill
O’Hearn and Gatz (1999)	GOAL program focuses on what adolescents should do rather than on what they should not do	350, 7th graders, Received intervention wait-list control group design, aka	Goal setting skills	Results demonstrated gains in knowledge of the skills taught as well as attainment of goals set during the program.	Moderate
USA		Randomized cohort	Sense of personal control
			Goal attainment scale
Smith et al. (2004)	Infusion is an approach that integrates prevention objectives and activities into basic academic objectives and activities at the same time	Nine small, rural school districts randomly assigned to 1ST, I-LST, or control conditions in grade seven group-randomized design	Five student surveys	The LST significantly reduced alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use, and inhalant use after 1 year for females	Strong
USA			(Tl) = pre-intervention	I-LST significantly reduced smoking, binge drinking, and marijuana use for females. At the end of second year I-LST program continued to impact female smoking, but all other results were non-significant. There were no effects on males at either time point
			(T2) = end 7th grade
			(T3) = 8th grade
			(T4) = 9th grade
			(T5) = 10th grade
Thompson et al. (2012)	The life skills training sessions focused on a variety of topics that prepared adolescents for independent living upon leaving state custody	Longitudinal data (baseline and 8-month post-test assessments), 351 adolescents(15–18 years) in foster care randomized to a life-skills HIV prevention program	Structured interviews	Study findings identified older age, using marijuana, and engaging in vaginal sex without a condom as the most significant predictors of attrition for a longitudinal life skills and HIV prevention program for adolescents in foster care	Moderate
USA			Substance use
			Mental health problems
			Child Maltreatment
			School and peer behaviors
			HIV Risk behaviors
Tuttle et al. (2006)	Cognitive Behavioral Theory	Students 12 & 16 years. No structured cognitive behavioural life skills training in the Teen club	Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) subscale scores	Trends in the data were seen physical and mental health improved slightly for all subjects, as did their educational and vocational status	Weak
USA	Cognitive behavioral theory	Teen club plus PALS
		Cognitive behavioral skill-building sessions
Vatankhah et al. (2014)	Life skills (anger control) include the self-recognition and self-abilities, values, establish a relationship with others and the concept of the relationships	80 students at the Tonekabon Shahed high school, divided randomly into two groups as test and witness group quasi-experimental type	Oxford happiness questionnaire and the year’s Cooper-Smith test	Results showed life skills is effective on increasing the self-esteem. Research based on teaching of life skills is effective on increase of happiness and self-esteem will be confirmed	Weak
Iran
Vicary et al. (2004)	The ADAPT study examines the effectiveness of both the standard LST curriculum and an infused approach to teaching the principles included in LST through the regular subject curricula	Rural Junior High School Females, end of 7th grade, and at the end of 8th grade are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: standard Life Skills Training [LST], infused life skills training [I-LST], or no treatment control,	Measures including substance use, based on Botvin et al.’s measures (1989)	Life Skills Training appeared to have more positive effects for the higher risk females than for those at lower risk after the first two years of the more intense programming. The most improvement continuing through the second year, assertiveness, refusal skills, and attitudes toward drugs.	Moderate
USA
Yadav and Iqbal (2009)	Life skills are abilities that enable individuals to behave in healthy ways, given the desire to do so and given the scope and opportunity to do so	60 students (M = 30 and F = 30). 15–17 years.	Self-esteem inventory (school form), Adjustment inventory for school students (AISS),Empathy quotient (EQ) after 5 months of training Coppersmith Self-steem inventory	Subjects improved significantly in post condition on self-esteem, emotional, educational, total adjustment and empathy. But, no significant difference was found on social adjustment in pre and post condition.	Weak
India
Chaudhary and Mehta (2008)	A WHO document (1994) defines life skills as “abilities for adoptive and positive behavior that enable an individual to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”	94 students between 13 and15 years, M = 59, F = 35	Self- administered semi-structured questionnaire, comprising of open-ended as well as close-ended questions.	Improve their self-image as well as boost their confidence level	Weak
India		Pre-test was done in August 2008		Improve their self-understanding and thereby lay foundation of an integrated sense of identity
Weichold and Blumenthal (2016)	IPSY is a universal school-based life skills program that aims to delay the onset and to reduce the normative increase in the consumption of alcohol and tobacco in adolescence	N = 1693 students	Intervention status	Results showed that participation in IPSY had a significant effect on the frequency of smoking, and proneness to illicit drug use, across the entire study period	Strong
Germany	Social influence approach	Grade 5, and booster session in grade 6 & 7	Alcohol consumption
		Longitudinal quasi-experimental design; intervention and control group, two follow-ups after program completion 6 measurement points	Tobacco consumption
			Proneness to illicit drug use
James et al. (2006)	The life skills and HIV/AIDS education programme for facilitation about knowledge about HIV and AIDS, attitude to condom use and people living with AIDS, gender norms, and perceptions about sexual behavior	1141 Grade 9 students	Knowledge about HIV infection, attitudes to condom use and people living with HIV and AIDS, perceptions about sexual behavior, communication about safer sex, perceived social support, confidence to assert oneself, and reported intended sexual behavior	Schools where the program was partially, the students’ responses on most variables were not significantly different from the responses of students in the control schools. The full program did not influence behavior in terms of condom use in the long term indicating that condom using behavior requires more than just knowledge, positive attitudes, and beliefs about its use	Moderate
South Africa	Theory of planned behavior and Bandura’s social cognitive theory	Pre-test multiple post-test experimental–control group design.
		Measure in 3 time period
		In the 6 months students in intervention group were exposed to the life skills programme focusing on HIV and AIDS prevention
		After 6-month period a post-test measure by a follow–up measure 4 months later
Givaudan et al. (2007)	‘A Team Against AIDS’ was complemented (specifically in the general aspects of skills building and the participatory didactic methodology)	1566 students	174 items questionnaire	Effects on dependent variables show that the experimental group improved significantly in all variables after the implementation of LS in the three different variable levels(personal, intervention, outcome)	Moderate
Mexico	Theory of planned behavior Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy	Mean age = 15.97	Include self-knowledge
		Pre-Post-test design	Decision-making
			Self-efficacy condom use
			Norms about condom use
			Attitudes toward condoms
			Knowledge about HIV/AIDS
			Communication on sexuality
Kazemi et al. (2014)	Life-skills-training positively effects on problem-solving, effective communication and adjustment to stress in students	40 students with dyscalculia, Mean age =11.38	Key – math mathematics test, self-esteem scale and social developmental questionnaire were used	Results indicated that, students who were in experimental group had a significant increase in self-esteem and communication skills, than students of control group	Moderate
Iran	Cognitive and affective skills	Quasi- experimental with pre-test/post-test and a control group
Wenzel et al. (2009)	LSPs focus on the training of these generic intra- and interpersonal competencies	952 students, 4 measurement points. (mean age = 10 years at pre-test) experimental design (intervention/control)	Self-reports-alcohol use and school bonding	Multiple regressions indicated that positive influences on school bonding following program participation partially mediated effects on alcohol use	Weak
German
Teyhan et al. (2016)	Life skills safety education centre in Bristol opened in 2000 and is one of seventeen permanent LASER (Learning About Safety by Experiencing Risk) projects in the UK	Sample Subjects were participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study (n = 10,112) children in year 6	Exposure – life skills attendance	Life skills attendance was associated with less reported smoking and cannabis use, but was generally unrelated to perceptions of the health impact of substance use	Weak
UK			Road safety
			Substance perceptions and use. Hospital attendance
			Potential confounders

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