Child Mental Health Research Group, University of Exeter Medical School, Vesey Building, Salmon Pool Lane, Exeter, EX2 4SG, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2012 Aug 30;12:719. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-719.
Childhood antisocial behaviour has high immediate and long-term costs for society and the individual, particularly in relation to mental health and behaviours that jeopardise health. Managing challenging behaviour is a commonly reported source of stress and burn out among teachers, ultimately resulting in a substantial number leaving the profession. Interventions to improve parenting do not transfer easily to classroom-based problems and the most vulnerable parents may not be easily able to access them. Honing teachers' skills in proactive behaviour management and the promotion of socio-emotional regulation, therefore, has the potential to improve both child and teacher mental health and well-being and the advantage that it might potentially benefit all the children subsequently taught by any teacher that accesses the training.
METHODS/DESIGN: Cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the Incredible Years teacher classroom management (TCM) course with combined economic and process evaluations.One teacher of children aged 4-9 years, from 80 schools in the South West Peninsula will be randomised to attend the TCM (intervention arm) or to "teach as normal" (control arm). The primary outcome measure will be the total difficulties score from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) completed by the current class teachers prior to randomisation, and at 9, 18 and 30 months follow-up, supplemented by parent SDQs. Secondary measures include academic attainment (teacher report supplemented by direct measurement in a sub-sample), children's enjoyment of school, and teacher reports of their professional self-efficacy, and levels of burn out and stress, supplemented by structured observations of teachers classroom management skills in a subsample. Cost data for the economic evaluation will be based on parental reports of services accessed. Cost-effectiveness, using the SDQ as the measure of effect, will be examined over the period of the RCT and over the longer term using decision analytic modelling. The process evaluation will use quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess fidelity to model, as well as explore Head teacher and teachers' experiences of TCM and investigate school factors that influence the translation of skills learnt to practice.
This study will provide important information about whether the Teacher Classroom Management course influences child and teacher mental health and well-being in both the short and long term. It will also provide valuable insights into factors that may facilitate or impede any impact.The trial has been registered with ISCTRN (Controlled Trials Ltd) and assigned an ISRCTN number ISRCTN84130388. (http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/search.html?srch=ISRCTN84130388&sort=3&dir=desc&max=10).
儿童期反社会行为对社会和个人都有很高的即时和长期成本，尤其是与心理健康和危及健康的行为有关。管理挑战性行为是教师普遍报告的压力和倦怠的来源，最终导致大量教师离开该职业。改善育儿的干预措施不容易转移到基于课堂的问题上，最弱势的父母可能不容易获得这些干预措施。因此，培养教师在积极的行为管理和促进社会情感调节方面的技能，有可能改善儿童和教师的心理健康和幸福感，并且有可能使所有随后由接受培训的教师教授的儿童受益。
方法/设计：对儿童 4-9 岁的教师课堂管理（TCM）课程进行了基于 Incredible Years 的集群随机对照试验（RCT），并结合了经济和过程评估。来自西南半岛 80 所学校的一名儿童教师将被随机分配参加 TCM（干预组）或“正常教学”（对照组）。主要结局指标是在随机分组前和 9、18 和 30 个月随访时由当前班级教师完成的《长处与困难问卷》（SDQ）的总分，补充家长 SDQ。次要措施包括学业成绩（教师报告，辅以子样本的直接测量）、儿童对学校的喜爱程度以及教师对其职业自我效能感的报告，以及在子样本中对教师课堂管理技能进行结构化观察后的 burnout 和压力水平。经济评估的成本数据将基于父母对所获得服务的报告。使用 SDQ 作为衡量效果的指标，将在 RCT 期间以及使用决策分析模型进行更长时间的成本效益进行检查。过程评估将使用定量和定性方法来评估对模型的忠实程度，以及探索校长和教师对 TCM 的经验以及调查影响所学技能转化为实践的学校因素。
这项研究将提供有关 TCM 课程是否会在短期和长期内影响儿童和教师的心理健康和幸福感的重要信息。它还将提供有关可能促进或阻碍任何影响的因素的宝贵见解。该试验已在 ISCTRN（临床试验有限公司）注册，并分配了一个 ISRCTN 编号 ISRCTN84130388。（http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/search.html?srch=ISRCTN84130388&sort=3&dir=desc&max=10）。
