Short-term effects of the "I Spy Feelings" program on emotion regulation in 5- to 6-year-old children.

Introduction: Mental health difficulties in early childhood can have a debilitating and ongoing impact throughout an individual's life; emotion regulation can serve as a protective factor. Therefore, evidence-based prevention programs that teach children effective skills and strategies for emotion regulation are needed.

Methods: As part of the Aussie Optimism pilot study evaluating the "I Spy Feelings" program, this study aims to assess the short-term effects of the program on emotion regulation in pre-primary aged children after 2 months via a longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial.

The Impact of the Aussie Optimism Program on the Emotional Coping of 5- to 6-Year-Old Children.

Research indicates that mental health disorders can occur in children as young as 4 years of age, prompting the need for prevention programs for young children. The ability to use healthy strategies to cope with emotions is a protective factor against mental health disorders that can be effectively taught to children from an early age. The current study used a pre-test post-test cluster randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the new Aussie Optimism: I Spy Feelings Program.

The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood.

Recent statistics suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders can occur earlier in life than previously thought, and appear to be on the increase. The burden that is associated with internalizing symptoms is large, with children's social, emotional, and cognitive development negatively impacted. Research suggests that early intervention and prevention is vital for adaptive development, and this review set out to explore the literature regarding social-emotional learning programs for children of preschool age that aim to prevent and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Do Parent Mental Illness and Family Living Arrangement Moderate the Effects of the Aussie Optimism Program on Depression and Anxiety in Children?

Parent mental illness and family living arrangement are associated with depression and anxiety in children, and may influence the effects of programs that aim to prevent these disorders. This study investigated whether these family context factors moderated the intervention effects of the enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills program on depression and anxiety in primary school children. The intervention was a universal, cognitive-behavioral program, with a one hour session each week for 10 weeks, delivered by trained teachers.

Preventing Internalizing Problems in 6-8 Year Old Children: A Universal School-Based Program.

The Aussie Optimism Program: Feelings and Friends (AOP-FF) is a 10 week, universal mental health promotion program based on social/emotional and cognitive and behavioral strategies. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of a universal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based program in preventing and reducing internalizing problems in 6-8 year olds (Years 1-3 in Australia). Year 1-3 students from a low SES primary school ( = 206) were randomly assigned in classes to either an intervention or a control group and assessed at baseline and post-test.

The Kids' Empathic Development Scale (KEDS): a multi-dimensional measure of empathy in primary school-aged children.

Empathy is an essential building block for successful interpersonal relationships. Atypical empathic development is implicated in a range of developmental psychopathologies. However, assessment of empathy in children is constrained by a lack of suitable measurement instruments.