Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Educational Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedures Effects of the cognitive-behavioral You Can Do It! Education program on the resilience of Japanese elementary school students: A preliminary investigation Toshie Yamamoto a,⁎ , Yuki Matsumoto b , Michael E. Bernard c a Osaka University Unit Graduate School of Child Development, Research Center for Child Mental Development Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi 260-8670, Japan b School of Human Life Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, 180 Nishihamaboji, Yamashiro-machi, Tokushima- shi, Tokushima, 770-8514, Japan c Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, 234 Queensberry Street, Carlton 3053, Australia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Resilience You can do it! Education Cognitive-behavioral Social-emotional learning Preventive program Mental health Japanese elementary school ABSTRACT The effect of a mental health promotion program based on cognitive behavioral therapy and social-emotional learning called “You Can Do It! Education” on the resilience of elementary school students was evaluated. Participants were fourth grade students at elementary schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, who were assigned to the intervention (n = 78) or control (n = 47) group. The intervention group was taught eight program lessons by a visiting counselor, which covered topics related to resilience and the relationships of thinking, feeling, and be- having. The intervention group showed significant improvements in resilience and social support, whereas the control group did not. We discuss the program’s feasibility for enhancing resilience and its limitations in Japanese school settings. 1. Introduction Recent studies have indicated that Japanese elementary school students manifest various mental health problems, including anxiety and depression (e.g., Tanaka, 2011). According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (MEXT, 2014), chief among the causes of mental health-related problems is the high prevalence of bullying in Japanese elementary and junior high schools, which exceeded 210,000 cases in 2015. More specifically, in 2015, there were an estimated 151,692 in elementary schools (122,734 in 2014) and 59,502 in junior high schools (52,971 in 2014). Chronic nonattendance of school has also increased, with approximately 125,000 students in that same year. The proportion of students who exhibited chronic nonattendance caused by anxiety or mental health problems was estimated at 32.4% while 14.5% was due to laziness and 46.2% due to problems with peer relationships except bullying. The lack of development of socioemotional competence in adolescents is universally recognized as a major contributing factor to poor mental health. Furthermore, school performance is an important foundation for young children’s later success and well-being (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012). There are five main interconnected sets of cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies for stu- dents, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relation skills, and responsible decision making (The Colla- borative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning: CASEL, 2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.08.006 Received 10 March 2017; Received in revised form 14 August 2017; Accepted 17 August 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: yamatoshi1947@gmail.com (T. Yamamoto), ymatbnr@tks.bunri-u.ac.jp (Y. Matsumoto), m.bernard@unimelb.edu.au (M.E. Bernard). Abbreviations: CASEL, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning; CBT, Cognitive behavioral therapy; SCAS, Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale; SSSC, Social Support Scale for Children; RESC, Resilience in Elementary School Children; YCDI, You Can Do It! International Journal of Educational Research 86 (2017) 50–58 Available online 08 September 2017 0883-0355/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK