Evaluation

Zippy's Friends has been extensively and professionally evaluated in a variety of cultures.

The results of the main international study into the programme's effectiveness have been published in the following article:

Mishara, BL and Ystgaard, M, 'Effectiveness of a mental health promotion program to improve coping skills in young children: Zippy's Friends', Early Childhood Research Quarterly 21 (2006) 110-123

The study was conducted in Denmark and Lithuania, testing the programme in different languages, different grade levels and very different types of school environment. It concluded that Zippy's Friends had been successfully implemented in both Denmark and Lithuania, and found that children in both countries showed clear improvements in coping abilities and social skills. The programme was equally effective with boys and girls.

There have been two further studies in Lithuania. The first found that all the improvements in children's social skills and problem behaviours that were recorded during the programme were maintained one year later. This is particularly encouraging, because Zippy's Friends aims to teach young children skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. A five-year study with large numbers of children has now commenced in Norway, to assess the programme’s more lasting impact.

The second study in Lithuania looked at whether children who had taken part in Zippy’s Friends in kindergarten adapted better to the more structured curriculum of primary school than those who had not taken part. It found that they adapted significantly better in a number of ways. This article has been published as follows:

Monkevicienė,O, Mishara, BL and Dufour, S (2006) ‘Effects of the Zippy’s Friends Programme on Children’s Coping Abilities During the Transition from Kindergarten to Elementary School’, Early Childhood Education Journal 31(1), 53-59.