The Effectiveness of School-Based Mental Health Services on School-Aged Children's Mental Health

The presented study intended to determine the impact a local School- Based Mental Health (SBMH) program had on the Mental Health (MH) symptoms of school-aged children receiving services. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the SBMH program by comparing the intensity of students’ mental health symptoms pre and post treatment services. Conducting the study was significant, as the results highlighted the need for SBMH services by emphasizing on the impact on the mental and behavioral health symptoms of school-age children. Researcher’s utilized data analysis which consisted of thirty random samples of secondary/archival data. This study focused on a quantitative, one-group, t-test paired sample research method to evaluate the impact of the intervention on the severity of students’ mental health symptoms pre and post treatment. The results of this study demonstrated a statistical significance in the impact of the intervention on the severity of MH symptoms reported by high school students, Pre (M=20, SD=11.489) to Post treatment (M=14.17, SD=8.931), t=(5), p=.087; the MH symptoms associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, specifically for Excessive Worry Pre (M=2.17, SD=1.169) to Excessive Worry Post (M=.83, SD=0753), t=(5), p=.010; and for Panic Attacks Pre (M=.33, SD=.816) to Panic Attacks Post (M=.17, SD=.408), t=(5), p=.000. The study suggests that SBMH services are of value to school-aged children; more specificallyto high school students and students experiencing mental health symptoms associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Future studies may focus on evaluating the quality of SBMH programs. Furthermore, future studies may evaluate parent and school staff assessment of students MH symptoms pre and post treatment.