The research compared improvisational theatre, mindfulness meditation and emotion-focused board games, finding that all three approaches helped prevent declines in mental health and self-efficacy among the most vulnerable students. Improvisational theatre produced an additional benefit: it strengthened cognitive empathy and willingness to collaborate across the full range of anxiety levels. For nine consecutive weeks, students attended one 90-minute session each week devoted to improvisational theatre, mindfulness meditation or board games designed to explore emotions. Among students participating in improvisational theatre, mindfulness or emotion-focused board games, these measures remained broadly stable. DOI: 10.1016/j.sel.2026.100213Keywords: adolescent mental health, anxiety, improvisational theatre, mindfulness, social and emotional learning, empathy, self-efficacy, emotion regulation, collaboration, schools, Covid-19 pandemic