Haven Schools: A pilot evaluation of a school-based programme to reduce anxiety in young people

Objectives: The aim of this study was to conduct a pilot evaluation of a novel six‐week school‐based intervention (‘Haven Schools’) on young people's psychological wellbeing. Methods: One hundred and forty‐one students (ages 12–16 years) from 11 schools in England attended up to six sessions of the intervention at their school during the day. Psychological wellbeing was evaluated at each session using the overall score on the Young Person's Core‐10 (YP CORE‐10) outcome measure, and anxiety and self‐harm were evaluated using individual questions in the YP CORE‐10. Results: Participants' psychological wellbeing was significantly better at their last session compared to their first session. Anxiety and thoughts of self‐harm were also significantly lower in last sessions compared to first sessions. Attendance was good, with 64% attending at least four sessions (M = 3.99 sessions attended). Conclusions: The Haven Schools programme appears to have promising initial results; however, further investigation using a control group and longer‐term follow up are warranted. Patient Consent Statement: This was an analysis of secondary data used to evaluate the programme, and therefore did not fall within the remit required for ethical review. Each school managed the issue of parental consent differently depending on their own rules. One school felt that it was not necessary to get parental consent as they felt it could be a barrier to some young people attending as they may not want their parents to know. However, most schools sent parents of students who indicated an interest an information letter, and asked parents to email the school with consent.