Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Innovations Psychother Psychosom 2006;75:331–336 DOI: 10.1159/000095438 Well-Being Therapy in School Settings: A Pilot Study Chiara Ruini a Carlotta Belaise a Chiara Brombin b Ernesto Caffo c Giovanni A. Fava a, d a Affective Disorders Program and Laboratory of Experimental Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, b Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, and c Chair of Child Neuropsychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; d Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y., USA Nowadays schools are conceived not only as ideal set- tings for developing learning and educational processes, but also for facilitating human and social development. Accordingly, the aims of many school programs are the prevention of childhood psychological disorders and the promotion of optimal functioning. It is conceivable that activation of such mechanisms in the school setting may entail long-term benefits, both in terms of developmental processes and of prevention of distress. Several elementary, middle and high school programs have been developed for reducing risk factors for psycho- logical distress through cognitive, social and emotional activities [1]. Some of these programs are aimed at build- ing general social and cognitive skills [2–7]. Others are designed to improve the children’s social problem-solv- ing, emotional understanding, conduct problems, adap- tive behavior and cognitive abilities related to social plan- ning and impulsivity [8, 9]. Mood disorder prevention programs are typically cog- nitive-behavioral and focus on the cognitive deficits and distortions associated with the disorder [10–16]. These interventions, which generally took place in schools and were administered to students screened and selected from the general population, produced a significant decrease in major depressive episodes or dysthymia in the experi- mental condition compared to the controls [11, 12] . Key Words School  Children  Affective disorders, prevention  Psychological well-being  Well-being therapy Abstract Background: There is increasing interest in the psychobio- logical mechanisms of resilience and psychological well-be- ing. It is conceivable that activation of such mechanisms in the school setting may entail long-term benefits, both in terms of the developmental process and of prevention of distress. This study wants to apply and test the efficacy of a school-based intervention protocol derived from well-being therapy (WBT) compared to cognitive-behavioral strategies. Methods: School interventions were performed in a popula- tion of 111 students randomly assigned to: (a) a protocol us- ing theories and techniques derived from cognitive-behav- ioral therapy; (b) a protocol derived from WBT. Assessment before and after interventions was performed using two self-rating scales: Kellner’s Symptom Questionnaire and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales. Results: Both school- based interventions resulted in a comparable improvement in symptoms and psychological well-being. Conclusions: This new well-being-enhancing strategy could play an im- portant role in the prevention of psychological distress in school settings and in promoting optimal human function- ing among children. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel Giovanni A. Fava, MD Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Viale Berti Pichat 5 IT–40127 Bologna (Italy) Tel. +39 051 209 1339, Fax +39 051 243 086, E-Mail giovanniandrea.fava@unibo.it © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel 0033–3190/06/0756–0331$23.50/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/pps