Stress prevention in adolescence: evaluation of a multimodal training approach

Abstract

Subject and aims: This paper reports on the development and evaluation of a stress prevention program for adolescents of grades 8 and 9. The program is based on the problem-solving approach and was developed on the basis of several evaluation studies. It consists of eight weekly training sessions with durations of 90 min each and is accompanied by an e-learning platform. Evaluation studies: The first section of the paper reports on a preceding demand analysis and the initial development and evaluation of the stress prevention program. The second section summarizes the results of providing an additional e-learning platform. Eight online-lessons were designed in correspondence to the training sessions of the face-to-face intervention. The last section of the paper focuses on the results of an evaluation of an optimized training version including the successful elements of the face-to-face and the e-learning platform. Results and conclusion: The results of the final evaluation study showed clear knowledge and self-efficacy improvement and reduction of stress symptoms. Moreover, the training led to positive assessments by most adolescents. Possible actions in contributing to an increase of the training effects beyond those already apparent in the current evaluation studies are additionally discussed.