Spotlights

[Research News] Tackling Depressive Symptoms in High School Students by Honing Emotional and Social Skills

A research team including Assistant Professor Kohei Kambara has developed a promising long-term intervention program that helps improve emotional well-being in high school students in Japan.

To address rising depressive symptoms among high school students, researchers have developed a year-long intervention called the Mastery of Interpersonal Relationships and Emotional Skills program. Tested among 120 part-time high school students, the program significantly reduced the progression of depressive symptoms in frequent participants. By integrating key emotional and social skill training into the school environment, the program offers a practical and scalable model for universal mental health prevention in high school settings.

Reference
Kohei Kambara, Yugo Kira, Misuzu Matsumoto, Suzuka Hako, Tomoya Ito, Akiko Ogata, Universal school-based prevention program for decreasing the depressive symptoms of high school students on a part-time course: Developing the MIRaES program in Japan, Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 174, July 2025, 108343
DOI : 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108343

https://research.doshisha.ac.jp/news/news-detail-78/

This achievement has also been featured in the “EurekAlert!.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1088586

Image title: Depressive symptoms are common among high school students
Image caption: Many school programs have been developed to combat depressive symptoms, but most fail to accommodate the needs, time constraints, and individual experiences of older high school students.
Image credit: userpilot1 from Openverse
Image source: https://openverse.org/image/e392c616-886d-47e4-94e4-18d4b93a0003?q=girl,+upset&p=12
License type: CC-BY 2.0
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