Longitudinal assessment of adolescent mental health and the development of effective nursing interventions to promote adolescent mental health and to enhance coping are public health priorities. Therefore, the two goals of this longitudinal study are: (1) to measure mental and physical health in a sample of rural adolescents, and (2) to test the effectiveness of a nurse-managed intervention designed to increase self-esteem, coping, and social support of students. Mental health will be assessed by measures of self-esteem, drug use, optimism, support, coping, depression symptomatology, and anger. Physical health will be assessed by measures of physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, general health, health needs, and concerns, and illness related absenteeism; (3) examine the association of life events, with mental health and physical health measured at baseline; (4) evaluate the effect of the coping skills intervention on the mental health of rural adolescents; and (5) evaluate the effects of the CSI on the physical health of rural adolescents. In Phase I of the study, rural high school students will be surveyed to establish baseline data and to identify intervention and control groups. Instruments include the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, the Child Behavior Checklist, the Anger Expression Scale, Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale, the Drug Use Screening Inventory, the Life Orientation Test, the Coping Responses Inventory, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Life Events Checklist, the Adolescent Health Inventory and the RAND Health Survey. In Phase II, the intervention will be implemented and longitudinal assessment of intervention efficacy will be done. The sample will include Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors from three rural high schools in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mental and physical health for all subjects will be assessed at baseline and then for intervention and control subjects immediately post intervention, at 6 months, and one year post intervention. Teacher ratings of intervention and control subjects' behavior will be done at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and one year. The intervention group will receive the coping skills intervention, a 10 week group protocol which has been shown to be effective in decreasing depressive symptomatology and increasing coping skills in normal and hospitalized adolescents.
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| Lamb, Jacqueline M; Puskar, Kathryn R; Sereika, Susan et al. (2003) Anger assessment in rural high school students. J Sch Nurs 19:30-40 |
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