Boys Engagement in Brief Educational workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST)
This is a large, national study testing the effectiveness of a day-long workshop programme called ‘DISCOVER’, for 16-18-year-old students experiencing low mood, stress, or anxiety. The study is funded by the Department of Health, and will take place in 4 sites; London, Bath, Manchester, and Northampton, over 3 years (2021-2023). It will involve a total of 60 schools/colleges and 900 students. The study builds upon prior research with over 100 students, which proved successful in reducing participants’ stress and improving their wellbeing.
In the initial phases of this work, we observed a large disparity in the number of male students participating, with 81% identifying as female (non identified as other gendered). So prior to the next stages we (Kings College London) have partnered with the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families before starting the next phases of this project in 2021, to find out why and how we can encourage more young males into this workshop. We are asking young males between 16 - 19 to kindly give 5 minutes of their time to fill in a questionnaire to help us with this.