Effekte und Kosten universaler Prävention von Internalisierungsstörungen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen

Abstract

Internalization disorders are one of the most frequentmental disorders in children and adolescents. Furthermore,they are important risk factors for mental disorders inadulthood. After defining different kinds of prevention the internationalstate of research regarding universal prevention of internalizationis reviewed. Methods: To make the effects of theprograms comparable, Hedge’s g for the comparisons betweendifferent measure points was calculated in a first step. ThenHedge’s g of the control group was subtracted from that of theintervention group in order to obtain the net effect size of eachprogram. To identify the cost-value relation, the number ofgroup leaders per intervention group was multiplied with theduration of the program and the mean hourly earnings of thegroup leaders. This amount was divided by the mean groupsize in order to calculate the costs by participant. Results: Thenet pre-post effect sizes of the universal anxiety prevention programsrange between g = -0.22 and 0.89. For none of the presentedprograms positive effects could be shown. The costs byparticipant range between EUR 10.00 and EUR 61.90. The net effectsizes regarding depression range from g = -0.30 to 0.46 forthe pre-post comparisons and between g = -0.24 and 0.45 forpre follow-up comparisons. In the latter costs by participantrange between EUR 2.25 and EUR 61.90. Conclusions: Both thequalification of the group leader (teacher vs. psychologists) andthe group size seem to affect a program’s effectivity, programduration and costs, however, seem less relevant.