The Effect of Social Skills Training by Teacher on Mental Health of Female Primary School Students

Background: Social skills play an important role in children’s emotional health and well-being. Therefore, Social Skills Training (SST) of children is very important. Objective This study was to determine the effect of SST by teacher on mental health of female primary school students. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design conducted on 24 female primary school students (third grade) in Rasht, Iran in 2017-2018. Their parents and teachers completed questionnaires before and after SST intervention. The sessions were held during the school year. For SST of students, intervention was provided to their teacher who was in daily contact with them. Methods of cognitive behavioral skills and positive reinforcement were used for SST. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) were used to assess mental health and social skills, respectively. Data were analyzed using statistical tests including Wilcoxon test and paired t-test in SPSS V.21 software. Results: The mean total score of MESSY decreased significantly from 225.54±13.65 to 219.12± 18.59 after the intervention (P=0.033). Among the subscales of SDQ, the mean of hyperactivity-attention deficit decreased only from 3.95±2.49 to 2.62±1.55 after the intervention, which was significant (P=0.020). Conclusion: The SST of female primary school students by the teacher do not lead to significant changes in their social skills and mental health.