Up the Creek without any Pedagogy: Piloting a School-Based Modified DBT-A Skills Program to Support At-Risk Students

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Date
2017-09-19Author
Holtby, Tammy Rosanna
Type
ThesisDegree Level
MastersMetadata
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Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to pilot a modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) group skills training program for at-risk students in one urban Saskatchewan high school. The study aimed to explore and understand the benefits and challenges of implementing a targeted intervention and to gain insight into the lived experiences of at-risk students using a framework of resiliency research.
Research design: Using a convergent parallel mixed-method design, grade nine and ten students received 12 weeks of manual-guided modified DBT-A group skills training. Quantitative data relating to students’ behavioral, emotional, interpersonal, and school functioning were collected at baseline and post-treatment using the BASC-3 (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) and Resiliency Scales for Children (Prince-Embury, 2007). Post-intervention individual interviews and a teacher focus-group interview were conducted, analyzed, and integrated with the quantitative data to create individual resiliency profiles. Overall themes were also identified and discussed in terms of Prince-Embury’s (2007) Three-Factor Model of Resiliency.
Results: This study provided preliminary data on the challenges and opportunities of implementing a modified DBT-A group skills training program in a high school setting to support at-risk students, as well as the personal, interpersonal, and contextual risk and protective factors that impact at-risk students’ resiliency and emotional and behavioral functioning at school. Findings served to inform future research on interventions for at-risk students that may be provided by school counsellors in Saskatchewan high schools.
Degree
Master of Education (M.Ed.)Department
Educational Psychology and Special EducationProgram
School and Counselling PsychologySupervisor
Claypool, TimCommittee
Mykota, David; Okoko, Janet; Mousavi, AminCopyright Date
June 2017Subject
School-based
DBT-A skills training
At-Risk Students
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy