Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Khrystyna Bednarchyk

Committee Member

Christine Reeve

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

emotional regulation, adolescent mental health, schoolbased interventions, social-emotional learning.

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of social-emotional learning interventions for adolescent students in an alternative school setting. The mental health crisis among adolescents has reached concerning levels, with more than one in three high school students experiencing persistent sadness or hopelessness. The Strong Kids and Strong Teens curriculum with emotional regulation component was implemented to address these challenges and improve students' social-emotional competencies. The intervention consisted of 1-hr sessions twice per week over 6 weeks, focusing on emotional awareness, self-regulation, empathy, responsibility, and social skills.

The researcher utilized a pre-and-posttest control group design to evaluate the curriculum's effectiveness with students in Grades 7–10 at an alternative school. The study included 16 adolescents with and without disabilities who were randomly divided into the experimental group and control group. The Strong Teens Social Emotional Knowledge Test was administered before and after the intervention to measure changes in social-emotional competencies in the experimental group participants. The control group participants were exposed to the pre- and post-test only without the Strong Kids and Strong Teens intervention. A Social Validity Survey was administered to the participants in the experimental group to evaluate participants' satisfaction with the curriculum.

Inferential statistical analysis of data was used to determine any statistically significant differences between the groups. Results revealed no statistical significance difference between the experimental group and control group. However, social validity and anecdotal data support the participants’ satisfaction with the Strong Kinds and Strong Teens curriculum intervention.

The study's findings call for a targeted social-emotional curriculum that meets the needs of adolescents with disabilities and at-risk adolescents. The study outcomes may benefit school administrators, educators, healthcare professionals, and crisis management services working with adolescents experiencing mental health challenges. This research contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting school-based social-emotional learning interventions as a strategy for addressing the mental health needs of adolescent students.

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