by University of Birmingham

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new program designed to teach emotional literacy in special schools to children with learning disabilities aged 8 to 11, helping them cope with social and emotional problems and have better mental health, has had encouragingly positive results.

A randomized controlled feasibility trial involving eight schools was conducted by researchers at the University of Birmingham. An emotional literacy program widely used in mainstream schools (known as Zippy's Friends provided by Partnership for Children) was adapted for use in special schools under the name Zippy's Friends-SEND.

Five of the selected special schools taught the program in at least one class over a school year. They were compared to three schools that used standard teaching programs only. Teachers, parents and children completed questionnaires to measure changes in children's emotional literacy (the ability to understand, express and manage your own feelings and be aware of other people's emotional needs), mental health and behavior during this time and were also interviewed about their experiences of taking part in the program and/or the research.

The results, published in the journal Public Health Research, suggest that a larger-scale version of the study can be done and the program is likely to show significant benefits for children with learning disabilities.

Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham, Biza Stenfert Kroese, said it was encouraging to see how pupils and teachers took to the program.

She said, "Emotional literacy development in children with learning disabilities is often overlooked, in research and in the development of programs, despite evidence to show that it is protective of a wide range of negative outcomes and leads to better mental health and quality of life. In fact, there is as yet no research that tells us that emotional literacy programs for children in special schools 'work.'

"We are pleased that, despite severe COVID-19 related restrictions, we were able to complete the research. This was in large part thanks to the excellent advice and support we received from our PPI (patient and public involvement) partners, nasen and BILD, which allowed us to adapt our research methodology to the exceptional circumstances in which teaching staff, pupils and parents/caregivers found themselves. The commitment from the schools, teachers, children and parent/caregivers was really impressive, especially given these very difficult circumstances.

"We are also delighted that we were able to ask children with learning disabilities to tell us themselves about their mental health by means of an adapted questionnaire. This has not been done before in this type of research."

Associate Professor Stenfert Kroese went onto highlight the positive reception the program received from all involved. She said, "We found that of the 34 pupils who were recruited to take part in the Zippy's Friends program, none dropped out and feedback from pupils, parents/caregivers and teachers was very positive. We also found that for those children who had attended the Zippy's Friends sessions, some aspects of their mental health and behavior improved, although the small numbers don't allow us to draw any firm conclusions as yet on the effectiveness of the program.

"The results tell us that a larger-scale version of this study can be done, provided we make changes to improve a few key areas: firstly, the timing of contacting schools; secondly, how we collect information; and thirdly, how we work with parents/caregivers. With these improvements, a larger study may be able to tell us more definitely whether the adapted program can help children in special schools cope with social and emotional problems and have better mental health."

More information: Biza Stenfert Kroese, Emotional literacy program in special schools for children with intellectual disabilities in England: the ZF-SEND feasibility RCT, Public Health Research (2024). DOI: 10.3310/JTJY8001

Provided by University of Birmingham