Year of the evaluation publication:
2015

Country or region covered:
New Zealand

Owner of the evaluation: 
Ministry of Education

Type of owner:
public - governmental body

Year when the evaluation was conducted: 
2014

Sector:
Youth work

Language of the evaluation:
English

Language of the Executive summary:
English

Intervention described and evaluated: 
The My FRIENDS Youth Resilience Programme (referred to throughout this report as My FRIENDS Youth) was developed to support young people aged 12−16 years to increase their resilience by developing knowledge, strategies and skills to cope with difficult and challenging times in their lives. It is a 10-session programme based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles, and it was developed in Australia by Dr Paula Barrett as part of a suite of FRIENDS programmes. 

Methodological approach: 
The evaluation focused on whether the programme was implemented as it was intended to be (implementation fidelity), the progress made towards short-term outcomes for teachers and students, and the degree of fit with the New Zealand educational and cultural context. This report analyses quantitative and qualitative data from the 26 schools that trialled the programme in 2014. These data include Wellbeing@School surveys completed by over 2,000 students before and after the programme, a survey of 31 teachers, and case study interviews with 17 staff and 160 students at five diverse secondary schools.

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