Improving Children's Adaptation: New Evidence Regarding the Effectiveness of Zippy's Friends, a School Mental Health Promotion Program

This article presents the results of the first North American evaluation study of the short-term effects of the French version of Zippy's Friends, a worldwide universal school-based program that promotes mental health in young children. The intervention group consisted of 310 children from 16 first and second grade primary school classes. Prepost changes were compared with a control group of 303 children in 19 comparable classes who had not participated in Zippy's Friends. The program was successfully implemented as planned. Results showed promising findings in terms of decreased internalisation and improved cooperation, autonomy and perceived social support. Building on previous evidence, this new study confirms that Zippy's Friends is a commendable program.