Improved Mental Health

One study, a comprehensive, gang prevention intervention (JIPP) analyzed the effectiveness of Ripple Effects in reducing depression among students at high risk of school failure and delinquency, whose daily context is one of trauma and gang violence.

There is a decline in average Beck Depression Inventory scores between students who were tested at entry and students who were tested upon exit of the program. The table below reports the difference in mean scores between entry and exit for cohorts three through six, all cohorts combined, and cohorts three through six combined.

After using the Ripple Effects, software-based intervention and completing the JIPP Program, the number of students who fit into the normal range increased from 35% to 66%,while the number whose answers classifies them as mildly depressed, or moderately depressed was 34%, and severely depressed was 0%. Mild mood disturbances, borderline clinical depression, and moderate depression all dropped upon completion of the program. The mean after the program was at 11, which is the low end of the mild mood disturbance category and just one point above the normal category. Cohorts 3 through 6 are combined because there are both entry and exit score data for these cohorts. Exit score data are not available for cohort 7. Scores on the Beck Depression Inventory indicate the following: 1-10: “Normal,” 11-16: “Mild Mood Disturbance,” 17-20: “Borderline Clinical Depression,” 21-30: “Moderate Depression,” 31-39: “Severe Depression,” 40: “Extreme Depression.”

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was the instrument used for the measurement. It is designed to measure the severity of depression in individuals aged 13 and over.  Students completed BDI at the beginning and end of the 18-week program, which als o included bio-behavioral, family support and academic components. Aa set of t-tests was conducted to calculate whether the differences between mean entry and exit scores were statistically significant. These tests account for substantial attrition bias by assuming that variances between entry and exit samples are unequal.

There is entry test data for cohorts three through seven and exit test data for cohorts three through six. Average scores declined for each individual cohort; however, only cohort three exhibited a difference that is statistically significantly different from zero. The program also resulted in statistically significant score decreases for all cohorts combined and cohorts three through six combined.           

Cohort three experienced a large decline of 8.12 points on the Beck Depression Inventory. This represents a decrease of approximately 44 percent from the mean of scores at entry. Prior to the program, the average cohort three student was evaluated as experiencing “borderline clinical depression.” After completing the program, the average cohort three student was assessed as having a “mild mood disturbance.” The decline in scores for the other three cohorts ranged between 22 and 29 percent. The overall effect on all cohorts was a decline of approximately 30 percent.