The Impact of a Social Emotional Learning Program on Substance Use, Aggression, and Psychological Functioning: Is School Climate a Mechanism of Change?

Background/Purpose: School-based prevention programs focused on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) seek, in part, to improve the school environment (e.g., decrease student aggression, violence). According to the SEL conceptual model, SEL programs result in the following program outcomes: (1) improved attitudes about self, others, and school, (2) increased knowledge and skills, and (3) supportive learning environments. Positive Action (PA) is one example of a school-based SEL program that has been studied extensively and has been found to improve student outcomes (e.g., decreased substance use, violence, depression, anxiety). However, few studies have used the SEL conceptual model in order to investigate the mechanisms of change within the PA program that are responsible for these changes. Using the SEL conceptual model, the current study examined the impact of PA on student outcomes (i.e., alcohol use, aggression, depression, anxiety) and the role of school climate (i.e., school hassles) as a mechanism of change.

Methods: The current sample consisted of 8,333 ethnically/racially diverse (28% Caucasian, 16% African American, 15% American Indian, 12% Mixed Race/other, 9% Hispanic Latino) rural adolescents (51% female) in grades 6 through 12. Data were collected using the School Success Profile Plus and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling.

Results: The model had good fit to the data (CFI = 0.983, TLI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.028). For every one standard deviation increase in the PA dosage, the school hassles score decreased by 0.065 standard deviation units. There was a positive relationship between school hassles and subsequent outcomes: as school hassles decreased, alcohol use aggression, depression, and anxiety also decreased. The results showed significant indirect effects of PA dosage (0-3 years) on adolescent outcomes through decreased school hassles.

Conclusions and Implications: The current study is among the first to examine the indirect pathway from an SEL program through school climate to adolescent behavioral and mental health outcomes. The current study addresses this gap by examining school hassles (an indicator of school climate) as a mechanism of change through which PA impacts alcohol use, aggression, depression, and anxiety in an ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged, rural context. Participation in PA was significantly associated with decreased school hassles, suggesting that PA was associated with an improvement in school climate. PA focuses on teaching students the necessary skills and knowledge to control their emotions, set and achieve goals, express empathy towards others, and behave responsibly, which translated into an improved school environment. Increased participation in PA was indirectly (through school hassles) associated with decreased alcohol use, aggression, depression, and anxiety. The current study suggests that school climate is an additional mechanism by which PA impacts individual student outcomes. Taken together, this research indicates that the effect of SEL programs on student behavior and emotional well-being occurs through improvements in social-emotional skills and attitudes as well as through improvements in the school environment, providing support for the SEL conceptual model.