Programs to promote children’s wellbeing: from data to practice

Thirty years after the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important to assess and reflect on the legislation and actions that were conducted to promote children’s rights and wellbeing. International indicators suggest important achievements in the dissemination of education and basic rights, especially in occidental and developed countries, but evidence regarding the effectiveness of intervention programs aimed at promoting children’s wellbeing is still sparse and scattered. Based on a review of the literature available at Scopus database, thirteen papers on intervention programs to promote wellbeing in children and adolescents were identified, including data from more than fourteen thousand students (N = 14,692). We revise the main components of the interventions, the target populations, the frequency and duration of the intervention, the instruments used to assess the effects, the study design, and its main effects. The chapter offers an overview of the state of the art on intervention in wellbeing but highlights the necessity of clear guidelines for researchers and practitioners. Limitations and guidelines for good practices for educational and community interventions are presented.
This work was financially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science (FCT) and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education through national funds within the framework of the Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UID/FIL/00683/2021) and the Psychology Research Center of the University of Minho (UIDB/PSI/01662/2020).