Twelve-Month Effects of the COPE Healthy Lifestyles TEEN Program on Overweight and Depressive Symptoms in High School Adolescents

• Published in: The Journal of school health Vol. 85; no. 12; pp. 861 - 870
• Main Authors: Melnyk, Bernadette M., Jacobson, Diana, Kelly, Stephanie A., Belyea, Michael J., Shaibi, Gabriel Q., Small, Leigh, O'Haver, Judith A., Marsiglia, Flavio F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.12.2015; Wiley-Blackwell; American School Health Association; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Attention; Attention Control; Behavior Modification; Body Composition; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Body Weight; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Cognitive ability; Cognitive behavioral therapy; Cognitive Restructuring; Cognitive-behavioral factors; Control methods; Depression; Depression (Mood disorder); Depression (Psychology); Depression - prevention & control; Depression, Mental; Emotional Development; Emotions; Empowerment; Exercise; Female; Health aspects; Health Behavior; health beliefs; Health education; Health Promotion; Health status; High School Students; Humans; Intervention; Life Style; Lifestyles; Male; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; mental health outcomes; Mental task performance; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Nutrition; Obesity; Outcome Measures; Overweight - prevention & control; Physical activity; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Prospective Studies; Randomized Controlled Trials; School Health Services; Secondary school students; Self Control; Skill Development; Southwestern United States; Symptoms; Teachers; Teenagers; Thinking Skills; United States (Southwest); Wellness programs; Young adults; Youth; Southwestern United States; United States > US; health behavior; health beliefs; depression; mental health outcomes; obesity
• ISSN: 0022-4391; 1746-1561; 1746-1561
• DOI: 10.1111/josh.12342

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND We evaluated the 12‐month effects of the COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, Nutrition) program versus an attention control program (Healthy Teens) on overweight/obesity and depressive symptoms in high school adolescents. METHODS A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted. Participants were 779 culturally diverse adolescents in the US Southwest. COPE is a cognitive‐behavioral skills‐building intervention with 20 min of physical activity integrated into a health course and taught by teachers once a week for 15 weeks. Outcome measures included body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms. RESULTS COPE teens had a significantly lower BMI at 12 months (F1,698 = 11.22, p = .001) than Healthy Teens (24.95 versus 25.48). There was a significant decrease in the proportion of overweight and obese COPE teens from baseline to 12 months (χ2 = 5.40, p = .02) as compared with Healthy Teens. For youth who began the study with extremely elevated depressive symptoms, COPE teens had significantly lower depression at 12 months compared with Healthy Teens (COPE M = 42.39; Healthy Teens M = 57.90); (F1,12 = 5.78, p = .03). CONCLUSIONS COPE can improve long‐term physical and mental health outcomes in teens.