I can succeed, a new social emotional learning program for children based on interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents

Abstract

I Can Succeed-Elementary School (ICS-ES) is the first social-emotional learning (SEL) program based on interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A). We hypothesized that fourth graders participating in ICS-ES over two school years would show improvements in interpersonal/social, emotional, and academic functioning. 419 fourth-grade students (204 girls and 215 boys, ages 9-10) were non-randomly assigned either to participating in ICS-ES (n=283) or to not participating in any SEL programs, i.e. treatment as usual (TAU; n=136). At the end of the second year, analyses showed significant improvement in assertiveness and significant reductions in internalizing symptoms and bullying among the ICS-ES group. The groups did not differ in cooperation, responsibility, hyperactivity, empathy, self-control, and externalizing symptoms. In addition, academic achievements in their first language (Hebrew) significantly improved only among ICS-ES students, while there were no changes in their second language (English) achievements. In contrast, TAU students showed a decrease in their second-language achievements. There were no differences between the groups in mathematics achievements. Teachers reported overall high satisfaction with the training and implementation. These results suggest that ICS-ES is a feasible and promising program for reducing internalizing symptoms and enhancing interpersonal skills and specific areas of academic functioning.