Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2025.054

Enhancing mental health in primary school children: a review of social emotional learning interventions with acceptance and commitment therapy componentsSocial Sciences in Health - Review article

Sheri Kingsdorf ORCID..., Karel Pančocha * ORCID..., Kateryna Ivanova ORCID...
Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Institute for Research in Inclusive Education, Brno, Czech Republic

Background: A robust social-emotional learning (SEL) repertoire in children has the potential to reduce mental health-related challenges impacting conduct problems, emotional distress, and academic achievement. However, achieving consensus around the key components of SEL-based interventions in primary schools remains challenging.

Methods: This scoping review aimed to investigate the applications and efficacy of evidence-based SEL practice, specifically acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions, in primary school settings. A comprehensive literature search identified six studies that incorporated ACT-based interventions within primary school contexts. The selected studies were analyzed using content analysis.

Results: The findings suggest a positive but tentative influence of ACT interventions on SEL outcomes and mental health of children. Variability in intervention implementation and outcome assessments was noted, indicating the need for more standardized approaches to evaluating ACT-based SEL programs in primary schools.

Conclusion: The review underscores the need for future studies to develop better alignment between ACT-based interventions, person-centered planning, and generalizability to enhance primary school students' emotional and psychological resilience. Further research should focus on refining intervention strategies, improving fidelity assessments, and ensuring sustainable long-term impacts of ACT-based SEL programs.

Keywords: Acceptance and commitment therapy; Mental health; Primary education; Social-emotional learning
Grants and funding:

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of a grant funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic within the SIGMA Program, reg. n. TQ01000106, http://www.tacr.cz/.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this work.

Received: February 14, 2025; Revised: July 30, 2025; Accepted: October 17, 2025; Prepublished online: November 7, 2025 

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