title: School-based humanistic counseling for psychological distress in young people: pilot randomized controlled trial.
abstract: School-based humanistic counseling (SBHC) is a widely delivered intervention for psychological distress in young people, particularly in the UK. This study piloted a set of procedures for evaluating SBHC and obtaining indications of effect. Psychologically distressed young people (aged 13-16) were randomized to either 12 weeks of SBHC or a waiting list control. The primary outcome was psychological distress at the 12-week endpoint, as measured by the Young Person's CORE. Those allocated to counseling (n=16) showed significantly greater reductions in psychological distress than participants in the control group (n=17), with an effect size (ES) (g) of 1.14 on the primary outcome and a mean ES across all four outcome measures of 0.73 at endpoint. The findings indicate that SBHC may be an effective means of reducing psychological distress in young people.
authors.affiliation: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G13 1PP, UK. katherine.mcarthur@strath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McArthur
authors.forename: Mick
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berdondini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012572:School Health Services / Q000592:standards; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists