The Impact of a Harry Potter-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Skills Curriculum on Suicidality and Wellbeing in Middle Schoolers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective To evaluate the impact of a Harry Potter-based mental health literacy curriculum, imparting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills, on suicidality and well-being in middle-schoolers Methods Students (aged 11-14;grades 7-8) who received a 3-month teacher-delivered intervention embedded in the language arts curriculum (N=200) were compared to a wait-list control group (N=230) in the largest urban school board in Canada Suicidality defined as a composite measure of self-reported suicidal ideation and attempts [primary outcome], self-reported emotion dysregulation, interpersonal chaos, confusion about self, and impulsivity [Life Problems Inventory (LPI)] and self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms [Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)] were the outcomes of interest Measurements occurred prior to and after curriculum delivery with independent t-tests used to compare mean change scores between groups clustered by class Results Thirty-seven English teachers in 46 classes across 15 schools comprised the planned study cohort Composite suicidality scores were significantly worse in the control than intervention group 0 05±0 54 vs 0 17±0 47, t= -2 60, df=428, p=0 01) There were also significant improvements in LPI and RCADS scores (LPI:-3 74±7 98 vs 1 16±10 77 t=5 28, df=428, p< 001;RCADS: (-3 08±5 49 vs -1 51±6 53 t=2 96, df=429, p=0 01) in the intervention group compared to controls Sub-analyses revealed that these improvements were largely driven by a significant difference in scores in girls Limitations Sample size constraints as study terminated prematurely during COVID pandemic Conclusions This study demonstrates significant improvement in suicidality, emotional regulation, self-concept, interpersonal difficulties, depression and anxiety in youth, particularly girls Replication studies in larger samples are needed to confirm these results