Dataset Information

Problem behavior and urban, low-income youth: a randomized controlled trial of positive action in Chicago.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Youth problem behaviors remain a public health issue. Youth in low-income, urban areas are particularly at risk for engaging in aggressive, violent, and disruptive behaviors.

Purpose

To evaluate the effects of a school-based social-emotional learning and health promotion program on problem behaviors and related attitudes among low-income, urban youth.

Design

A matched-pair, cluster RCT.

Setting/participants

Participants were drawn from 14 Chicago Public Schools over a 6-year period of program delivery with outcomes assessed for a cohort of youth followed from Grades 3 to 8. Data were collected from Fall 2004 to Spring 2010, and analyzed in Spring 2012.

Intervention

The Positive Action program includes a scoped and sequenced K-12 classroom curriculum with six components: self-concept, social and emotional positive actions for managing oneself responsibly, and positive actions directed toward physical and mental health, honesty, getting along with others, and continually improving oneself. The program also includes teacher, counselor, family, and community training as well as activities directed toward schoolwide climate development.

Main outcome measures

Youth reported on their normative beliefs in support of aggression and on their bullying, disruptive, and violent behaviors; parents rated youths' bullying behaviors and conduct problems; schoolwide data on disciplinary referrals and suspensions were obtained from school records.

Results

Multilevel growth-curve modeling analyses conducted on completion of the trial indicated that Positive Action mitigated increases over time in (1) youth reports of normative beliefs supporting aggressive behaviors and of engaging in disruptive behavior and bullying (girls only) and (2) parent reports of youth bullying behaviors (boys only). At study end-point, students in Positive Action schools also reported a lower rate of violence-related behavior than students in control schools. Schoolwide findings indicated positive program effects on both disciplinary referrals and suspensions. Program effect sizes ranged from -0.26 to -0.68.

Conclusions

These results extend evidence of the effectiveness of the Positive Action program to low-income, minority, urban school settings, and to middle school-aged youth.

SUBMITTER: Lewis KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3723403 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Problem behavior and urban, low-income youth: a randomized controlled trial of positive action in Chicago.

Lewis Kendra M KM Schure Marc B MB Bavarian Niloofar N DuBois David L DL Day Joseph J Ji Peter P Silverthorn Naida N Acock Alan A Vuchinich Samuel S Flay Brian R BR

American journal of preventive medicine 20130601 6

<h4>Background</h4>Youth problem behaviors remain a public health issue. Youth in low-income, urban areas are particularly at risk for engaging in aggressive, violent, and disruptive behaviors.<h4>Purpose</h4>To evaluate the effects of a school-based social-emotional learning and health promotion program on problem behaviors and related attitudes among low-income, urban youth.<h4>Design</h4>A matched-pair, cluster RCT.<h4>Setting/participants</h4>Participants were drawn from 14 Chicago Public Sc ...[more]

PMID: 23683980

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMental health problems are a leading cause of disability in adolescents worldwide. Problem solving is a well-tested mental health intervention in many populations. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a brief, transdiagnostic problem-solving intervention for common adolescent mental health problems when delivered by non-specialist school counsellors in New Delhi, India.MethodsThis randomised trial was done in six government-run schools (three all-boys schools, two all-girls schools, and one co-educational school) that serve low-income communities. We recruited participants from grades 9 to 12 (ages 12-20 years) by selecting students with persistently elevated mental health symptoms accompanied by distress or functional impairment. Clinical eligibility criteria were assessed by research assistants using the Hindi-language version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), with reference to locally validated borderline cutoff scores of 19 or greater for boys and 20 or greater for girls on the SDQ Total Difficulties scale, an abnormal score of 2 or more on the SDQ Impact scale, and persistence of more than 1 month on the SDQ Chronicity index. Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) to problem solving delivered through a brief (2-3 week) counsellor-led intervention with supporting printed materials (intervention group), or problem solving delivered via printed booklets alone (control group). Primary outcomes were adolescent-reported mental health symptoms (SDQ Total Difficulties scale) and idiographic psychosocial problems (Youth Top Problems [YTP]) at 6 weeks. Primary analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis at the 6-week endpoint. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03630471.FindingsParticipants were enrolled between Aug 20, and Dec 4, 2018. 283 eligible adolescents were referred to the trial, and 251 (89%) of these were enrolled (mean age 15·61 years; 174 [69%] boys). 125 participants were allocated to each group (after accounting for one participant in the intervention group who withdrew consent after randomisation). Primary outcome data were available for 245 (98%) participants. At 6 weeks, the mean YTP scores were 3·52 (SD 2·66) in the intervention group and 4·60 (2·75) in the control group (adjusted mean difference -1·01, 95% CI -1·63 to -0·38; adjusted effect size 0·36, 95% CI 0·11 to 0·61; p=0·0015). The mean SDQ Total Difficulties scores were 17·48 (5·45) in the intervention group and 18·33 (5·45) in the control group (-0·86, -2·14 to 0·41; 0·16, -0·09 to 0·41; p=0·18). We observed no adverse events.InterpretationA brief lay counsellor-delivered problem-solving intervention combined with printed booklets seemed to have a modest effect on psychosocial outcomes among adolescents with diverse mental health problems compared with problem-solving booklets alone. This counsellor-delivered intervention might be a suitable first-line intervention in a stepped care approach, which is being evaluated in ongoing studies.FundingWellcome Trust.

Dataset Information

Problem behavior and urban, low-income youth: a randomized controlled trial of positive action in Chicago.

Background

Purpose

Design

Setting/participants

Intervention

Main outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Problem behavior and urban, low-income youth: a randomized controlled trial of positive action in Chicago.

Similar Datasets

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