The impact on adolescent health and wellbeing from adding evidence-based soft skill lessons to the high school curriculum

Through a cluster randomised field trial, we evaluate the impact of an evidence-based, soft skills curriculum aimed at adolescents, referred to as Healthy Minds, that ran in 35 high schools in England over four years (2013/14 – 2017/18). We find supportive evidence that Healthy Minds positively augments the primary outcome of self-reported, physical health in the treated adolescents. Treated pupils have global health attainment that is 0.235 standard deviations higher than children in the control group, resulting in a ten-percentile increase in their measured health status. We also find evidence of positive impacts on behaviour. There is no evidence of systematic impacts on improved emotional well-being. We note significant gender differences in the effects found, strongly favouring boys. Given the acknowledged significance of well-being to character and soft skills development, we provide strong evidence that a designed taught life skills curriculum can improve related outcomes during the adolescent years, and that differential learning styles across visible aspects of diversity are worthy of consideration.