Empowering students to take control of anxiety

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The Anxiety Project has been running since December 2022, and now the first results are in. The figures reveal an incredible impact on both students and teachers – and it’s just the beginning

ANXIETY IN Australian children is an ever-growing concern. A number of studies have revealed its significant negative impacts on learning, and social and emotional development. However, there is good news. According to new data, a groundbreaking early intervention program is making a substantial difference. The Anxiety Project by Parentshop has been running since December 2022, when its baseline data was collected from 19,000 students across 53 schools. The first set of follow-up data has now been released, and the results show an incredible 73% reduction in mean anxiety scores, as well as a decrease in child-reported anxiety in 18 out of 25 schools.

Parentshop provides engaging, action-based professional development and training events that deliver effective behaviour-change solutions for all ages. Parentshop’s training is for the people who look after children of all ages, who want to be catalysts for effective change for the new generation. Through Parentshop’s programs targeting anxiety, Parentshop seeks to lift the skills of school leaders, teachers, school learning support officers (SLSOs) and parents recognising anxiety in students and responding to such behaviours. In this way, we will support the efficacy of schools in supporting the achievement of high-level outcomes by students.

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“Through this latest data, we know that [The Anxiety Project] is working and having a substantial impact. We’ve been able to put something together that’s life-changing for many kids”

Rob Walker, NSW Primary Principals’ Association

Additionally, teachers’ self-reports have indicated a huge improvement in their confidence levels when it comes to identifying and managing child anxiety. Parentshop founder and psychologist Michael Hawton says this latest data is “terrific news” and a confirmation that the project’s techniques are effective. “These results are why we set out to do the project in the first place,” Hawton tells The Educator. “Teachers are taking to it like a duck to water, and the feedback is that they really trust what they’re doing. They’re implementing it with parents as well as children, and it’s helping their children be less anxious and more resilient.”

The Anxiety Project has been adopted by schools across New South Wales, along with its sister project Resilience in Our Teens (RIOT). The next stage will involve rolling both programs out nationwide across other states and educational sectors. Rob Walker, deputy president of the NSW Primary Principals’ Association, has been fully behind both projects from day one. He notes that the need for them quickly became apparent, as baseline research data showed much higher levels of anxiety in children than anticipated. Then, in 2019, the Australian Primary Principals Association released a report on childhood anxiety, which showed “a disturbing and significant problem” that was impacting health, wellbeing and learning outcomes.

“We had to decide whether we’d leave that with the Department of Health and for parents to grapple with, or whether we invest into it,” Walker tells The Educator. “Through this latest data, we know that the project is working and having a substantial impact. We’ve been able to put something together that’s life-changing for many kids and has built a lot of confidence in the adults around them.” The Anxiety Project’s key strategy is to reduce the number of “unhelpful” accommodations put in place by adults, and equip children with practical strategies and knowledge on how to manage discomfort and anxiety. Walker highlights that adults might often step in to solve a problem for a child – a cycle that can perpetuate anxiety further and instil a mindset of not being able to cope.

The Anxiety Project encourages adults to be okay with letting children sit in discomfort, and to support them in developing their own coping skills. This involves learning about how emotional functioning works, as well as self-regulation and calming techniques. Walker notes that The Anxiety Project was expected to take some time to see results, and to potentially even increase anxiety during the first stages. However, the results suggest that the lessons and techniques are having a stronger impact than the removal of accommodations – an unexpected result but a highly encouraging one. “It’s helping kids to understand their minds and bodies and how they can take control of what’s happening,” Walker explains.

Children’s mental health has increasingly been a topic of concern in Australia. In 2021, the Australian Productivity Commission released a series of recommendations around mental health, highlighting the crucial role that adults – especially teachers – play in this area. These recommendations emphasised that teachers should be equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to identify and manage anxiety in their students effectively. Hawton notes that many teachers have gained both personally and professionally from The Anxiety Project, finding themselves challenging their own cognitive

A life-changing impact

Encouraging kids to ‘have a go’

Published 05 Aug 2024

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“We need to have something that works at a population-change level, so we’re looking at how we can sustain the project’s impact over time”

Michael Hawton, Parentshop

“The data is also showing that staff confidence levels have shifted markedly. They’ve gone from the lowest two bands on the confidence scale to the top two bands, where they now feel very confident in what to do if they see anxiety.” Parentshop founder Michael Hawton adds: “The great thing about The Anxiety Project and Resilience in Our Teens is that they help adults be the coaches. “It guides adults to adjust the conversations they’re having with kids about how to manage anxiety, which helps them to face difficulties that they’d normally avoid – for example, putting your hand up in class, or trying something new. As a result, they get stronger with each experience.”

distortions and making positive changes at home. “Those are wonderful anecdotes, and it wasn’t what we set out to do – but it’s been an impressive extra,” Hawton says. One of the long-term aims of the project is to encourage a cultural shift across schools to focus on confidence, problem-solving and ‘having a go’. Eighteen months on, these trends are starting to play out; however, Hawton emphasises that there is still a long way to go. “We want to influence schools at an early point in time rather than waiting until those kids are in high school, because we know that anxiety is progressive and gets worse over time,” he explains. “We need to have something that works at a population-change level, so we’re looking at how we can sustain the project’s impact over time.” For more information on The Anxiety Project and its latest results, click here.

The Anxiety Project’s impact: Key stats

53 schools

19,000+ students

73% reduction in mean anxiety scores after 6 months

Key features of The Anxiety Project

CBT-based

Early-intervention tool

Whole-school community approach to building resilience