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Abstract
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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the evaluation of an internet-delivered stress-prevention program for adolescents as a possible alternative for school-based implementation of mental health promotion.
Design/methodology/approach - A total of 904 adolescents in grades eight and nine were assigned to four treatment conditions (online-training in school, online-training via internet from home, school-based face-to-face training, control group without intervention). Before and after the training interval, all adolescents were questioned about their knowledge regarding stress and coping and their appraisal of stress-evoking situations. The participants self-assessed their perceived stress vulnerability, their coping behavior and their stress symptoms. In addition, the training groups were asked about their training acceptance.
Findings - The results show a considerable knowledge gain for participants of the online-program. The number of positive cognitions in stress-evoking situations also increased, although this effect was only observed in the school-based online-training setting. Regarding training acceptance, the best results were obtained for participants of the classical face-to-face intervention.
Research limitations/implications - Future research should examine factors that influence compliance rates in internet-delivered prevention programs.
Practical implications - Although online-prevention cannot completely substitute school-based face-to-face-training, it can be seen as an effective and economic complement to conventional methods of health promotion.
Originality/value - This paper presents not only a comparative evaluation of internet- and school-based health promotion targeting adolescents, but also a comparison of the effects of online-prevention under "real" and "ideal" conditions. |