Empirical Evidence and Characteristics of School-Based Prevention Approaches for Preventing Child and Youth Problem Behavior

Background and Purpose: Schools and educational systems have been the center of prevention activities since the 1960s. Schools offer classroom and building-wide universal preventive interventions for all students as well as selective and indicated interventions for children and youth with early signs of learning and behavior problems. School-based prevention approaches include: social and emotional learning programs that teach social, cognitive, and behavioral skills to students; school-wide strategies aimed at improving school culture or climate; and integrated programs that extend elements of school-based prevention by reaching beyond school boundaries to include parents or community members. There has been a proliferation of intervention trials aimed at examining the effects of school-based prevention programs in the past two decades. In this paper, we present findings from a systematic review of the empirical evidence pertaining to school-based preventive interventions. Characteristics of effective school-based prevention programs are delineated.

Methods: We searched existing meta-analyses and systematic reviews in order to reduce, synthesize, and summarize the large body of published literature on the effectiveness of school-based prevention. We began by searching the empirical databases of PSYCINFO, MEDLINE, ERIC, Wilson Social Science Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, Social Science Citation Index, and Social Science Abstracts. Initial search terms included “prevention,” “school-based,” and “meta-analysis” or “systematic review.” These terms were then combined with four child and youth problem behaviors of interest:  “substance use”, “delinquency”, “violence”  “school dropout”, and other synonyms. Search terms were entered with and or or using Boolean format. We reviewed these studies to determine the magnitude of effects and to delineate program characteristics associated with positive effects.

Results: A total of 34 meta-analyses or systematic reviews of school-based prevention programs were identified. Overall, effect sizes for all school-based prevention programs range from less than .10 to approximately .57. Universal prevention programs targeting all students, regardless of risk exposure or early involvement in problem behavior, revealed effect sizes ranging from .04 to .17. Social and emotional learning approaches for elementary and middle school students demonstrated the most consistently positive findings, with an average effect size of .30. Evidence pertaining to the efficacy of preventive interventions also varied by outcome or type of problem behavior; effect sizes for programs targeting substance abuse ranged from .15 to .18 while interventions aimed at preventing violence were between .18 and .29. Common characteristics of effective school-based prevention programs include using behavioral and cognitive intervention strategies, providing opportunities for interaction, reducing negative social influence and antisocial peer pressure, and combining different types of program elements.

Conclusions and Implications: Evidence suggests that there is a continuum of efficacious school-based preventive interventions. Effective school prevention programs lead to improvements in intermediate outcomes such as skills, intentions, and attitudes and to long-term reductions in problems like substance use, delinquency, violence, and school dropout. Prevention programs should be provided across developmental age groups and integrated whenever possible in routine classroom and school activities. Evidence-based programs should be implemented with fidelity and consider cultural and contextual issues at classroom, school, and community levels.