Lordan, Grace (2025) The impact on adolescent health and wellbeing from adding evidence-based soft skill lessons to the high school curriculum. Journal of the Economic Science Association. ISSN 2199-6784 (In Press)
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Through a cluster randomised field trial, we evaluate the impact of an evidence-based, soft skills curriculum aimed at adolescents, referred to as Healthy Minds, that ran in 35 high schools in England over four years (2013/14 – 2017/18). We find supportive evidence that Healthy Minds positively augments the primary outcome of self-reported, physical health in the treated adolescents. Treated pupils have global health attainment that is 0.235 standard deviations higher than children in the control group, resulting in a ten-percentile increase in their measured health status. We also find evidence of positive impacts on behaviour. There is no evidence of systematic impacts on improved emotional well-being. We note significant gender differences in the effects found, strongly favouring boys. Given the acknowledged significance of well-being to character and soft skills development, we provide strong evidence that a designed taught life skills curriculum can improve related outcomes during the adolescent years, and that differential learning styles across visible aspects of diversity are worthy of consideration.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s) |
| Divisions: | Psychological and Behavioural Science |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools H Social Sciences B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| JEL classification: | I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I20 - General |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2025 11:24 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Sep 2025 08:03 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128806 |
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