What is TAP?
Overview
The Teen Anxiety Program (TAP) is a curriculum specifically designed for middle school and high school students (ages 12 and up). The program is designed to be implemented once a week for 16 weeks (one semester), but has flexibility in its administration. The curriculum can be implemented as part of the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) program at Tier 1 school-wide and classroom level, Tier 2, small group level, and as part of a more targeted approach for Tier 3 interventions.
Purpose
The overarching goal of the Teen Anxiety Program is to promote healthy habits and routines to promote mental health and well-being for adolescents. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2024), more than 30% of adolescents in the United States meet the criteria for a clinical anxiety-related disorder. With the rise of anxiety in society and in the adolescent population, the goal of the curriculum is twofold. First, the goal is to help students understand the emotion of anxiety. The curriculum is used as a preventative method to help students understand anxiety and manage the emotion before it becomes a barrier to participation. The goal is to help students understand anxiety, develop strategies to manage anxiety, and learn to utilize positive anxiety to promote successful participation. Second, the goal is to provide practical, easy to implement strategies for students who may experience more debilitating anxiety or for students whose anxiety has become a barrier to successful participation in school.