[What are the differences between well-being therapy and anxiety management in the school setting?]

In the last decade there has been increasing interest in the potential of early preventive interventions capable of promoting psychological well being in order to reduce the risk of childhood psychological distress. This study analyzes the differential effects of strategies for promotion of psychological well-being (Well-Being Therapy, WBT) and removal of distress (Anxiety Management, AM) in a non clinical school setting.

Our sample consisted of eight classes (N=162 students) attending middle schools in Northern Italy which were randomly assigned to a protocol derived from WBT (4 classes) and to an anxiety-management protocol (AM) (4 classes). Immediately before and after both school interventions students were assessed using the Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWB), Kellner's Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (R-CMAS). A six month follow-up was performed in the following school year, and students were re-assessed with the same psychometric instruments.

Our results lend support to the possibility to change attitudes to psychological well-being and distress with brief interventions in school (both well-being improving and distress removing).

Further investigations should determine whether the combined and sequential integration of well-being and symptom oriented strategies may yield more complete and lasting effects that each strategy alone.