Learn more about our study that looked into the longer-term effects of school-based counselling in UK primary schools.

This research paper, "Longer-term effects of school-based counselling in UK primary schools", was originally published in the peer-reviewed medical journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in 2021.

If you have any questions about this research or any of our other research projects, please contact our Research and Evaluation team at researchteam@place2be.org.uk.

Summary

Purpose

Before we did this research, the lasting impact of early intervention counselling services on the mental health of children and young people was unknown. The purpose of this research was to find out what the long-term effects of Place2Be’s one-to-one counselling delivered to children in UK primary schools were.

What we did

Working with researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Cambridge, in this research we assessed the longer-term impact of our school-based service.

We looked at data from a sample of 700 children who received school-based counselling in the UK in the 2015/16 academic year delivered by Place2Be. Mental health was assessed before, immediately after, and approximately one year after children had received counselling.

We measured mental health using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which teachers and parents completed.

What is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)?

The SDQ is a questionnaire used to assess the mental health of children aged 3–16 years. Sometimes, a teacher or parent may complete an SDQ for the child or young person.

Findings

We found that following one-to-one counselling children’s mental health improved according to both teachers’ and parents’ reports. Importantly, these improvements were maintained one year later.

In a further analysis, we compared this group to a group of children who had not received Place2Be counselling. This analysis suggested that mental health improvement in Place2Be’s children was not only greater, but was also estimated to continue over two years.

Read the full research paper

You can read, download and share the full research paper, "Longer-term effects of school-based counselling in UK primary schools", below.