Research

These are the studies behind Big Feelings, Brave Hearts and the Grow Happy kits. Each workbook also lists its own references on its final pages.

On average, programs that teach these skills have small but real benefits, and they last longest when adults keep practising the skills with children in everyday life. Our workbooks have not themselves been tested in a research trial, and they are not a treatment.

References

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  2. Brummelman, E., Thomaes, S., Nelemans, S. A., et al. (2015). Origins of narcissism in children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(12), 3659–3662. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1420870112
  3. Brunwasser, S. M., Gillham, J. E., & Kim, E. S. (2009). A meta-analytic review of the Penn Resiliency Program's effect on depressive symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(6), 1042–1054. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017671
  4. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., et al. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
  5. Chorpita, B. F., & Daleiden, E. L. (2009). Mapping evidence-based treatments for children and adolescents: Application of the distillation and matching model to 615 treatments from 322 randomized trials. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(3), 566–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014565
  6. Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L. H., et al. (2023). The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions. Child Development, 94(5), 1181–1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13968
  7. Creswell, C., Violato, M., Fairbanks, H., et al. (2017). Clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of brief guided parent-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy and solution-focused brief therapy for treatment of childhood anxiety disorders: A randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(7), 529–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30149-9
  8. Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627
  9. Dray, J., Bowman, J., Campbell, E., et al. (2017). Systematic review of universal resilience-focused interventions targeting child and adolescent mental health in the school setting. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(10), 813–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.07.780
  10. Dunning, D. L., Griffiths, K., Kuyken, W., et al. (2019). Research review: The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents – a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(3), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12980
  11. Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., et al. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
  12. Gullone, E., & Taffe, J. (2012). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ–CA): A psychometric evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 24(2), 409–417. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025777
  13. Gunderson, E. A., Gripshover, S. J., Romero, C., et al. (2013). Parent praise to 1- to 3-year-olds predicts children's motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child Development, 84(5), 1526–1541. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12064
  14. Havighurst, S. S., Wilson, K. R., Harley, A. E., et al. (2010). Tuning in to Kids: Improving emotion socialization practices in parents of preschool children – findings from a community trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(12), 1342–1350. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02303.x
  15. Hofmann, S. G., Doan, S. N., Sprung, M., et al. (2016). Training children's theory-of-mind: A meta-analysis of controlled studies. Cognition, 150, 200–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.01.006
  16. Kinnaird, E., Stewart, C., & Tchanturia, K. (2019). Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Psychiatry, 55, 80–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004
  17. Kuyken, W., Ball, S., Crane, C., et al. (2022). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: The MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Evidence-Based Mental Health, 25(3), 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2021-300396
  18. Layous, K., Nelson, S. K., Oberle, E., et al. (2012). Kindness counts: Prompting prosocial behavior in preadolescents boosts peer acceptance and well-being. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e51380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051380
  19. Montero-Marin, J., Allwood, M., Ball, S., et al. (2022). School-based mindfulness training in early adolescence: What works, for whom and how in the MYRIAD trial? Evidence-Based Mental Health, 25(3), 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2022-300439
  20. Montgomery, P., & Maunders, K. (2015). The effectiveness of creative bibliotherapy for internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors in children: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.010
  21. Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33
  22. Pons, F., Harris, P. L., & de Rosnay, M. (2004). Emotion comprehension between 3 and 11 years: Developmental periods and hierarchical organization. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1(2), 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620344000022
  23. Rapee, R. M., Abbott, M. J., & Lyneham, H. J. (2006). Bibliotherapy for children with anxiety disorders using written materials for parents: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 436–444. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.3.436
  24. Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., et al. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864
  25. Teding van Berkhout, E., & Malouff, J. M. (2016). The efficacy of empathy training: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000093
  26. Thirlwall, K., Cooper, P. J., Karalus, J., et al. (2013). Treatment of child anxiety disorders via guided parent-delivered cognitive-behavioural therapy: Randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 203(6), 436–444. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.126698
  27. Trentacosta, C. J., & Fine, S. E. (2010). Emotion knowledge, social competence, and behavior problems in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review. Social Development, 19(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00543.x
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Last updated November 2026.