By Shaina Trevino, PhD, Research Associate, HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice, University of Oregon. 

In today’s post, we are revisiting findings from the HEDCO Institute’s review on school-based anxiety prevention programs for K-12 students. First, we will summarize what we found in that review and then introduce a new interactive data tool for exploring the data from that review. This tool allows you to filter studies by key characteristics, such as location and school type, making it easier for you to find research that aligns with your local context. 

Whether you’re an educator explore possible anxiety prevention strategies to implement in your school, or a researcher investigating program effects on different outcomes or contexts, this tool provides a flexible, interactive way to engage with the current research and discover evidence-based strategies. 

Visit the anxiety prevention dashboard

Overview of findings on the HEDCO Institute’s review of school-based anxiety prevention programs

The systematic review and meta-analysis conducted by the HEDCO Institute summarized the effectiveness of school-based anxiety prevention programs for reducing K-12 students’ anxiety symptoms and other mental health outcomes. We identified 35 studies involving nearly 18,000 students and, overall, found that these programs are likely effective. On average, students who participated in these programs had 3.6 percentile points fewer anxiety symptoms, and 2.8 percentile points fewer depression symptoms, compared to students in comparison conditions. 

The HEDCO Institute’s School-Based Anxiety Prevention Interactive Tool: A research database

We understand that context is crucial to understanding what and when research is relevant to your school and your students. So, we developed an interactive tool to help you answer the question: What research exists on school-based anxiety prevention programs for my specific population? 

Our interactive tool gathers all the research studies on anxiety prevention programs in K-12 schools available on or before May 2023 and will be updated as we continue to add findings from new studies. You can use this tool to find out what research studies exist about school-based anxiety prevention for your specific student group or school context.

A step-by-step guide for using the interactive tool

First, access the web-based interactive tool. 

Within the interactive tool, you can explore all studies included in our review on school-based anxiety prevention programs for K-12 students or apply filters to focus on studies that best fit your specific needs. When you first open the tool, all studies will be displayed in the table for you to explore. 

If you’re looking for specific studies, you can use the filters to quickly find ones that fit your context and needs. Currently, you can filter by Country, School Type (e.g., public), Community Type (e.g., rural), Grade Level, School Level (e.g., elementary), Outcome (e.g., depression, anxiety), and Intervention (e.g., FRIENDS for Life). You can apply as many filters as you like. Just keep in mind that the more specific your filters, the fewer studies might show up—or there might not be any at all.

For example, you might be interested in research on public, rural high schools. To see studies that meet these criteria, click on each filter and select those options from the drop-down menu. 

After selecting your desired filters, a table will show up that summarizes the different research studies that meet your criteria. You can explore the studies within the tool or download your filtered data so you can easily reference them later.

We have included many links to additional resources within the tool, if available. In the data table, the links in the title column will take you to the scientific publication behind the study. Some publications may not be freely accessible. In the author column, links will take you to the professional webpage for the corresponding author in case you would like to connect with the person who conducted a given research study. In the intervention column, we have also included links to the program website and clearinghouse information for name-brand interventions, when available. 

To start over and view all data or select new filters, you can click on the “Reset Filters” button under the filters.

Additional features

In the “Summary Statistics” tab, you will find frequency tables that show how often certain characteristics appear across studies. If you’ve applied filters, the tables will only show results based on your filters. If no filters are selected, you’ll see summary tables for all of the studies in our review. This tab is useful if you want to identify trends among research based on your criteria without reviewing each individual study. 

The “Glossary” tab provides a handy reference guide with definitions for key terms used in the tool. This is especially helpful if you come across a technical term or filter option you are unfamiliar with.

We hope this tool is useful as you explore the existing evidence on school-based anxiety prevention programs for K-12 students. If you have any feedback or comments about our interactive tool, feel free to complete our feedback form. A link to this form is also included at the bottom of the dashboard in case you have feedback while using the tool.