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Cluster Randomized Trial of a Multicomponent School-Based Program in Mexico to Prevent Behavioral Problems and Develop Social Skills in Children

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Abstract

Background

There is a significant gap between the prevalence of child and adolescent mental illness in Mexico and access to mental health services, especially those that are evidence-based. School-based interventions can significantly narrow this gap.

Objective

The study evaluated the effectiveness of the interventions Dejando Huellitas en tu Vida (Leaving Traces on Your Life [Huellitas]) and Criando con Amor, Promoviendo Armonía y Superación en México (Raising Children with Love, Promoting Harmony and Self-Improvement [CAPAS-Mx]).

Methods

Participants were 215 caregivers (Mage = 38.4 years, SD = 8.9, 82.9% women) and 202 children (Mage = 8.6 years, SD = 1.3, 44.06% girls) from four public schools randomly assigned to four experimental conditions (Huellitas, CAPAS-Mx, Huellitas-CAPAS-Mx, and Control) with pre-test and post-test assessments.

Results

Caregivers in the multicomponent condition reported significantly lower scores in child externalizing problems and higher scores in discipline, skills encouragement, social adaptation, emotional control and prosocial behavior than caregivers in the control group. There were also improvements in parents’ use of effective discipline and skills encouragement in the CAPAS-Mx group over the control group. Among the children, only those in the Huellitas condition showed a decrease in mediation.

Conclusions

Findings support the implementation of the multicomponent intervention in public school settings.

Registry ID

ISRCTN11345846, at https://www.isrctn.com/.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with funding from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Mexico, through the PDCPN-2014-248428 project. We are grateful to Claudia Castillo Lozada, Fabiola Vázquez Quiroz, Guadalupe Ramírez Martínez, Lianed Gaytán López, Tulio Suárez Maldonado, Valeria T. Zempoalteca García and Verónica Alcántara Quintero for their work as delivery practitioners and their contributions to this paper. We are also indebted to the fieldwork team and the school community (including the authorities, teachers, parents, and staff).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Directorate of Epidemiologic and Psychosocial Research, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, 14370, Mexico City, Mexico

    Nancy G. Amador Buenabad, Rodrigo Sánchez Ramos, María L. Gutiérrez López, Alma D. Díaz Juárez, Ana B. Ortiz Gallegos, Tania G. González Ortega, Lucía Vázquez Pérez, María E. Medina-Mora Icaza & Jorge A. Villatoro Velázquez

  2. Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

    Sarah Schwartz & Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

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  1. Nancy G. Amador Buenabad
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Correspondence to María L. Gutiérrez López.

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Amador Buenabad, N.G., Sánchez Ramos, R., Schwartz, S. et al. Cluster Randomized Trial of a Multicomponent School-Based Program in Mexico to Prevent Behavioral Problems and Develop Social Skills in Children. Child Youth Care Forum 49, 343–364 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-019-09535-3

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