2018 Study

A second single-subject design study of the On Second Thought (OST): From Iffy to Witty Thoughts program delivered via SMART technology was conducted. Three children with anxiety participated in the group intervention, which met weekly for eight weeks. Anxiety symptoms, behavioral and emotional difficulties, automatic thoughts, and irrational beliefs were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up time points. Significant improvement was found in the domains of anxiety symptoms, internalizing problems, emotional symptoms, personal adjustment, externalizing problems, behavioral symptoms, adaptive skills, and negative automatic thoughts. Improvement was also found for additional outcomes which did not reach significance. The participants appeared to enjoy the activities, as well as the SMART technology component of the program.

The above intervention was conducted by Alexa K. Pata, B.A., and Natasha Kostek, M.A., doctoral students at St. John’s University in New York.

2016 Pilot Study

A single-subject design that investigated, On Second Thought: From Iffy to Witty Thoughts (OST) program delivered via SMART technology was examined. Two children with anxiety participated in the group intervention in a simulated school environment. Several outcomes that measured anxiety, behavioral and emotional difficulties, automatic thoughts/irrational beliefs, and academics were assessed at post-treatment and follow-up. Between the participants, significant improvements were found in the areas of anxious symptoms, internalizing problems, emotional symptoms, negative automatic thoughts, and adaptive skills. Non-significant improvements were also found on several outcomes and gains were largely maintained at follow-up.

2015 Survey

A survey completed by 280 school psychologists and school administrators investigated how important various factors are when it comes to the On Second Thought: From Iffy to Witty Thoughts (OST) program. Survey participants were randomly assigned to one of four descriptions of the OST program. Each description was identical aside from manipulations regarding session length and means of delivery. The survey examined perceived acceptability of the program, effectiveness of the program, willingness to use the program, appropriateness of the program, and overall benefit of the program. In addition, the survey investigated the extent to which various factors impacted individuals’ perceptions of the program, including number of sessions, program cost, program content, the evidence-base of the program, and the means of program delivery. Participants had favorable ratings of all four of the OST vignettes, which did not significantly differ. In terms of factors of importance when it comes to interventions, evidence-base and content of the program were rated as most important. The lowest rated factors were cost and number of sessions.

The above were conducted by Dr. Stephanie Schwartz while she was a doctoral student at St. John’s University in New York.