title: Two-year impact of personality-targeted, teacher-delivered interventions on youth internalizing and externalizing problems: a cluster-randomized trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the 2-year impact of teacher-delivered, brief, personality-targeted interventions on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in an adolescent U.K. sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cluster-randomized trial was run in 19 London schools (N = 1,024 adolescents). Trained school-based professionals delivered two 90-minute, CBT-based group interventions targeting 1 of 4 personality-risk profiles: anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, impulsivity, or sensation seeking. Self-report depression, anxiety, and conduct disorder symptoms were assessed at 6-month intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interventions were associated with significantly reduced depressive, anxiety, and conduct symptoms (p < .05) over 2 years in the full sample, reduced odds of severe depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74, CI = 0.58-0.96), and conduct problems (OR = 0.79, CI = 0.65-0.96), and a nonsignificant reduction in severe anxiety symptoms (OR = 0.79, CI = 0.59-1.05). Evaluating a priori personality-specific hypotheses revealed strong evidence for impulsivity-specific effects on severe conduct problems, modest evidence of anxiety sensitivity-specific effects on severe anxiety, and no evidence for hopelessness-specific effects on severe depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Brief, personality-targeted interventions delivered by educational professionals can have a clinically significant impact on mental health outcomes in high-risk youth over 2 years, as well as personality-specific intervention effects in youth most at risk for a particular problem, particularly for youth with high levels of impulsivity. Clinical trial registration information-Adventure: The Efficacy of Personality-Targeted Interventions for Substance Misuse and Other Risky Behaviors as Delivered by Educational Professionals.
authors: McGill University.
authors: Maeve
authors: M
authors: O'Leary-Barrett
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Topper
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Al-Khudhairy
authors: Robert O
authors: RO
authors: Pihl
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Castellanos-Ryan
authors: Clare J
authors: CJ
authors: Mackie
authors: Patricia J
authors: PJ
authors: Conrod
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D065026:Hope; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D007318:Inservice Training; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D013663:Teaching
keywords: internalizing and externalizing symptoms; personality-targeted interventions; school-based prevention