School violence prevention programs improve behavior

September 2006

Programs that help aggressive students develop better relationships with others appear to be effective at reducing violent behavior.

“This means helping them to be better at listening, thinking about the feelings of others, working cooperatively, and being assertive without being aggressive,” Julie Mytton, MD, a public health doctor at the University of West England in Bristol, England, said in an interview.

Mytton said these programs appeared to work regardless of the age of the participants.

“There has been a tendency to focus on tackling aggression in younger children while aggression in older children is thought to be much harder to change. Our report indicates that both younger and older children can benefit by using programs modified for different age groups,” Mytton said. Mytton was the lead researcher of a recent data review published in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Researchers searched databases and included trials that met the following criteria: Participants were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups; outcome data were collected concurrently; participants included children in mandatory education identified as exhibiting, or at risk of, aggressive behavior; interventions were designed to reduce aggression, violence, bullying, conflict or anger; interventions were school based; outcomes included aggressive behavior, school and agency responses to acts of aggression or violent injuries.

Researchers compared results from immediately after the intervention and at 12 months.

Improvements in behavior

Of the 56 trials identified, 34 had data on the immediate effects of intervention among 2,939 students. Researchers noted reduced aggressive behavior among those in intervention groups compared with those not in intervention groups (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.41; 95% CI -0.56 to -0.26).

This effect was maintained in the seven studies that reported 12 months follow-up (SMD = -0.40; 95% CI, -0.73 to -0.06.).

Subgroup analyses suggested that interventions designed to improve relationship or social skills might be more effective (SMD= -0.61; 95% CI, -0.87 to -0.35) than interventions designed to teach skills of nonresponse to provocative situations (SMD= -0.39; 95% CI, -0.61 to -0.16), according to the research abstract.

Of the 34 completed trials studied, 22 were set in schools for children aged 11 years or younger, and 12 were for schools with children aged 12 years or older. Post-intervention results on differences in aggression scale scores were similar for both age groups, with younger students reporting an SMD of -0.42, while older students reported an SMD of -0.41.

According to the researchers, most pupils selected for entry into trials were boys. Of the 34 trials with data, 12 were conducted solely on boys. Post intervention differences in aggression scale scores appeared to be stronger for mixed sex groups (SMD= -0.45) than for boys alone (SMD= -0.35).

Researchers said further study would be needed to determine whether a reduction in violent behavior ultimately leads to a reduction in violent injury.

For more information:

• Mytton J, DiGuiseppi C, Gough D, et al. School-based secondary prevention programmes for preventing violence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2006;3:1-74.