About the Children's Mental Health & Psychological Wellbeing Portfolio
The portfolio contains an Introduction plus seven booklets covering key psychological concepts, such as Belonging, Distress, Enjoyment, Healthy Living, Resilience, Responsiveness and Social Behaviour.
Introduction
Positive mental health in children is fundamental to their achievement of positive outcomes in life. This Introductory booklet addresses the key issues in the identification and promotion of children’s mental health and psychological wellbeing, including recent developments in child and adolescent mental health, the CAMHS framework, the developing role of schools, assessment in practice, the monitoring and evaluation of clinical interventions, outcome measures and global assessment scales and interpreting data.
Belonging
Successfully achieving a sense of belonging in institutions, such as schools, can have a positive impact on a range of important outcomes, including engagement with learning, emotional wellbeing and happiness. A sense of “not belonging” may lead to disaffection, disengagement from learning, depression and anxiety. Where young people feel that they do not belong or where they are excluded, they may be at greater risk of seeking a sense of belonging through anti-social groups, such as gangs or extremist organisations. And where problems of engagement and belonging are a feature of schools, these are likely to be manifested in increased risk of poor behaviour, poor attendance, underachievement and bullying.
Any sense of social alienation is likely to undermine pupils’ engagement with learning and academic progress. Belonging is a powerful psychological concept and many of the measures within this booklet can help asses the extent to which a school can be defined as “inclusive”.
Distress
Common, transitory distress, even if severe, is a normal experience of childhood and usually does not require professional help. Although usually temporary in nature, distress can however also be more chronic and longstanding. Current estimates indicate that one in ten children and young people aged between 5 and 16 years in the UK experience symptoms which cause them considerable psychological distress. In some cases, long term outcomes can be serious and without intervention, these difficulties can persist into adulthood with considerable implications for the individual, those close to them and wider society.
Interventions however can be successful if individuals are identified and assessed early. The purpose of this booklet on “Distress” is to provide guidance for professionals on the identification of children experiencing high and enduring levels of anxiety, depression and other internalising problems, such as phobias, social anxiety and disturbed mood states.
Enjoyment
Empowering children to enjoy their childhood and school life is an aim that should be upheld by all those who work with children. Within Children’s Services generally and in particular for schools, there are certain expectations in relation to “enjoyment” and the duty to promote the wellbeing of their pupils. Whilst objective indicators are available to assess attendance, standards of behaviour and rates of further education, they can do little to confirm subjective levels of enjoyment.
This booklet includes a number of tools that help to access and assess a child’s individual experience and perceptions of enjoyment. Based on the three main psychological constructs of enjoyment and happiness - Subjective Wellbeing, Life Satisfaction and Quality of Life – the measures included tap into the positive experiences of present happiness, past contentment and satisfaction, and future hope and optimism.
Healthy Living
Health promotion has become a hot topic, particularly for schools, and research has consistently demonstrated that healthy living is associated with positive outcomes. For children and young people, healthy living is important for healthy growth, cognitive development and psychological wellbeing, and habits learnt during childhood often continue into later life. There is a also positive relationship between diet and regular physical activity with social skills, positive self-esteem and good quality peer relationships.
In line with the many national programmes developed to improve children’s outcomes, the measures provided in this booklet aim to address a range of behaviours associated with “healthy living” including sleeping, eating, physical activity, leisure activities and risk-taking.
Resilience
Resilience is not simply putting up with life’s adversities, or being able to cope with them – it is the capacity to get up after being pushed over and to tolerate great challenges without breaking down under the strain they impose. School life can offer vulnerable pupils a wide range of opportunities to boost resilience, such as acting as a secure base, helping to developing self esteem and self-efficacy, and providing constructive contact with peers and supportive adults.
The resilient child can be viewed as having a sense of self-esteem and confidence, possessing a repertoire of social problem solving approaches and being imbued with a sense of self-efficacy and belief. This booklet provides tools to help measure such a range of resilient behaviours. Unsurprisingly, many psychologists and teachers find the concept of ‘resilience’ both practical and engaging, offering a real and alternative destination for vulnerable children.
Responsiveness
‘Responsiveness’ is a term used to describe the range of behaviours that children must show to successfully participate in activities with their peers and other individuals in a prosocial way. Empathy, altruism, self awareness and relationship skills are all facets of responsiveness.
Responsiveness is of increasing interest and importance to Children’s Services professionals as it has been linked with academic success, positive mental health and wellbeing, and improved peer relationships. Conversely, children with social and emotional difficulties face associated difficulties with their peers, an increased rate of conduct problems and risk for other mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and later substance use.
Promoting the social and emotional development and wellbeing of children is a key responsibility for schools. This booklet on “Responsiveness” helps place these skills at the heart of school improvement and learning.
Social Behaviour
A child’s psychological wellbeing can be great enhanced by the breadth of quality of their social relationships. The behaviours that children display towards other children, their feelings about themselves and their sense of self-worth (particularly in school) can all reveal valuable indicators of their overall mental health and wellbeing. Social behaviour also plays a huge role in the classroom and can both aid and hinder learning and progress.
This booklet emphasises prosocial behaviours and competencies, such as co-operation, compliancy and the general ability to modulate behaviour to what is regarded as socially acceptable. It considers the impact and development of peer relations, emotion regulation and the management and expression of anger. By investigating prosocial behaviours in depth, more can be understood about the causes and roots of anti-social behaviours.
