The effect of life skills training on self-efficacy beliefs among Italian school teachers

Life Skills are considered essential abilities that help people navigate life’s challenges and opportunities. The Life Skills Training (LST) program aims to reduce substance use and high-risk behaviors among youth. An Italian adaptation of the LST program was delivered to schoolteachers by health professionals. This study explored whether participating in the LST program enhanced schoolteachers’ efficacy beliefs and their general well-being. Teachers (96 in the Target group, 64 in the Control group) were assessed before training began and after each of the three subsequent years (T0–T3) on efficacy beliefs, psychological well-being, and motivation and expectancies regarding the training. Multilevel models showed that the LST program selectively increased teachers’ Personal Teaching Efficacy across all three years and buffered the decline in School Efficacy observed in the Control group by the third year. No significant treatment effects emerged for general psychological well-being. Higher initial motivation and expectancies regarding the training were positively associated with subsequent gains in self-efficacy beliefs. These findings suggest that the LST program can selectively strengthen specific, training-relevant self-efficacy beliefs among teachers, an effect partly modulated by their motivation and expectancies. These findings encourage the implementation of LST training for the joint benefit of students and schoolteachers.