肥田 乃梨子

Background/Objectives: School-based universal mental health interventions offer an inclusive and scalable approach to promote mental health and well-being among children. This study evaluates the Let’s Learn About Emotions (Opitaan tunteista in Finnish) program, an evidence-based, teacher-led universal school-based intervention originally developed in Japan and culturally adapted for Finnish primary schools. Methods: A total of 512 fourth-grade students from 14 schools participated in the 12-week program during spring 2023. Using a mixed-methods design, we assessed (1) the program’s acceptability among students, parents, teachers, and school principals, (2) fidelity of implementation, and (3) changes in students’ mental well-being pre- to post-intervention. Quantitative data included standardized questionnaires with valid responses collected from 233 students at baseline and 209 students at post-intervention, as well as parents and teachers. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions involving parents, teachers, and school principals during spring 2024. Results: Acceptability was high across all respondent groups. Teachers adhered closely to the teaching manual, as confirmed by self-reports and direct classroom observations. Statistically significant improvements were observed in parent-reported conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems, though student self-reports did not show similar benefits. Conclusions: The program was found to be both acceptable and culturally appropriate in the Finnish context. Findings from this study provide valuable insights for refining and improving the program for future implementation. To more rigorously examine its effectiveness, future studies should employ a randomized controlled trial design.

Introduction Emotional awareness and emotion regulation are crucial for cognitive and socio-emotional development in children. School-based interventions on socio-emotional skills have the potential to prevent these problems and promote well-being of children. The Japanese school-based program, Universal Unified Prevention Program for Diverse Disorders (Up2-D2), has shown preventive effects on mental health of children in Japan. The aims of this protocol paper are to describe the unique process of adapting the Up2-D2 from Eastern to Western context, and to present a feasibility study of the intervention, conducted in Finland. Methods The cultural adaptation process started with the linguistic translation of materials, followed by the modification of language to fit the Finnish context. While the Japanese ideology was saved, some content was adapted to fit Finnish school children. Further modifications were made based on feedback from pupils and teachers. The Finnish version of the program was named “Let’s learn about emotions” and consisted of 12 sessions and targeted 8- to 12-year-old pupils. A teacher education plan was established to assist Finnish teachers with the intervention, including a workshop, teachers’ manual, brief introductory videos, and online support sessions. A feasibility study involving 512 4th graders in the City of Hyvinkää, South of Finland, was conducted. It assessed emotional and behavioral problems, classroom climate, bullying, loneliness, perception of school environment, knowledge of emotional awareness, and program acceptability. Discussion The originality of this study underlies in the East–West adaptation of a cognitive behavioral therapy-based program. If promising feasibility findings are replicated in Finland, it could pave the way for further research on implementing such programs in diverse contexts and cultures, promoting coping skills, awareness, social skills and early prevention of child mental health problems. Ethics The ethical board of the University of Turku gave ethics approval for this research. The educational board of the City of Hyvinkää accepted this study.

本研究では特別支援学校高等部に在籍する軽度から中度の知的障害生徒（8名）を対象にUniversal Unified Prevention Program for Diverse Disorders（Up2-D2: Ishikawa et al., 2019）を対象者に合わせてアレンジして実施し、メンタルヘルスへの効果とプログラムの適用可能性について検討した。その結果、抑うつに有意な得点の低下が示された。以上よりUp2-D2は生徒の発達や理解度に合わせてアレンジを加えながら実施することで知的障害のある生徒にも適用可能であり、メンタルヘルスの改善にも一部効果があることが示された。今後の課題として補助的な指導教材の作成や体験的な学習の機会を取り入れていくことなどがあげられた。

問題を未然に防ぐための予防的介入は，目の前にある問題を解決する治療的介入と比較して，効果が見えにくいために実施が遅れることが多い。しかし，子どもたちのメンタルヘルスの悪化やコロナ禍の影響を踏まえると，学校教育現場における予防的介入の実装が求められている。本総説では学校でのメンタルヘルス予防教育の現状と課題について，こころあっぷタイム（Up2-D2: Universal Unified Prevention Program for Diverse Disorders）の社会実装を通じて解説を行った。本総説では社会実装における研究面での課題として，有効性の確立，測定指標の選定，対象者の拡大，構成要素の洗練化と短縮化，既存プログラムからの選定，若手研究者の育成，について議論した。加えて，実践面での課題として，キーパーソンの確保，授業時間の確保，実施者の養成，運営資金の調達，広報活動の実施，について議論した。