Effects of the HORS-PISTE program on anxiety and social-emotional skills in 2 nd and 3 rd cycle elementary-school students

Anxiety is a common mental health issue among elementary school-aged children. Social-emotional skills development appears to be a promising approach to promote children’s well-being and protect against anxiety disorders. Given the high proportion of students affected, universal anxiety prevention programs have been implemented and evaluated. This article presents a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the HORS-PISTE program implemented in Quebec among 2nd - and 3rd -cycle elementary school students. A total of 1,288 students completed questionnaires before and after participating in the program (experimental group). The results were compared to those of students in a control group (n = 539) who did not participate. This study found that students in the experimental group developed stronger social-emotional competencies compared to the control group, with more pronounced effects among students who initially exhibited higher anxiety levels and showed a reduction in anxiety symptoms and improvement in all social-emotional skills compared to the control group. This study, with a large sample, highlighted the program’s marked effects on anxiety symptoms among students with higher initial levels of anxiety. Studying this prevention program developed and implemented in the Quebec context may help expand access to mental health initiative for French-speaking children in general.