NCJ Number
198445
Journal
Youth Studies Australia Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 23-30
Date Published
June 2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes the ACE (Adolescents Coping with Emotions) project in Australia that is aimed at providing early intervention for young people with depression.
Abstract
There is evidence that a large proportion of young people are experiencing feelings of depression and low mood. Experiencing these problems in adolescence increases the risk of mental health difficulties later in life and is associated with poorer social and academic achievement. Adolescence is a critical time for early intervention and prevention programs. ACE is a school-based cognitive-behavioral program that tries to improve young people’s resilience by teaching effective coping strategies. It is aimed at 12- to 15-year-old students. It is implemented in group sessions that involve learning new skills, role-plays, exercises, fun activities, and individual discussion. As with any school-based initiative, successful implementation of ACE is only possible with the support and commitment of the school principal and other key staff. Since 1998, the ACE project has piloted and evaluated both universal (ACE-U) and indicated (ACE-I) approaches for at-risk youth. Currently, ACE focuses on indicated (targeted) approaches. ACE-I focuses on at-risk students identified by current depressive symptoms (dysphoria or low mood). An innovative aspect of the program is its implementation in schools in small groups of 8 to 10 students, with co-leaders from education (school counselors) and community adolescent mental health services. The program consists of eight 90-minute sessions of small groups with individualized discussions of personal issues and the individual use of the program material. In program evaluations, 72 percent of participants reported a better ability to cope with future problems as a result of the ACE program. 3 figures, 28 references