“Promoting adaptive and resilience skills in primary school children through conversation-based training”

Several studies have shown that conversation-based activities are particularly effective in improving theory of mind and wellbeing among school-aged children. The objective of this study was to verify whether a conversation-based training is able to increase theory of mind, resilience, empathy, and adaptive coping strategies, and to simultaneously decrease maladaptive coping strategies in school-aged children. This goal was pursued using a randomized pre-post research design, with two groups receiving an identical training in different phases of the longitudinal intervention study. The sample was composed of 285 Italian children attending fourth and fifth grade of primary school (Mage = 10.00; SD = 0.57; girls = 121), of which 142 randomly assigned to the first experimental group (G1) and 143 assigned to the second experimental group (G2). At Time 1 (autumn), Time 2 (winter), and Time 3 (spring), children completed self-report questionnaires on the target constructs. The intervention lasted one month and consisted in four weekly sessions of a conversation-based training (each lasting 50 minutes). G1 received the training between Time 1 and Time 2, whereas G2 between Time 2 and Time 3. Overall, analyses conducted through linear mixed effects models revealed a significant time × Training Group interaction for coping strategies and resilience, with post-hoc tests showing a substantial reduction in internalizing coping strategies among fifth graders following the intervention t(299) = 4.926, p < 0.001. No significant variations emerged in the other constructs, neither in fourth nor in fifth graders. The present results suggest that a relatively short intervention based on group discussions of mental states, resilience and coping strategies, can reduce some forms of maladaptive coping strategies. However, only older children benefited from the training. Therefore, future studies will need to diversify the training contents depending on the age of the participants to achieve better results.