Meta-Analysis of the Impact of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management on Child Behavioral Problems

Background of the project: The “Incredible Years” (IY) intervention is a universal curriculum developed to reduce young children’s behavioral problems, which can be implemented among parents, children, and teachers. The IY Teacher Classroom Management (IY-TCM) Program was developed to train teachers in classroom management that promote social competence and affect child social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. Due to the amount of time children spend in schools, the utilization of schools for implementation is essential. Much research supports collaboration between teachers and parents to improve child outcomes substantially. However, parental involvement is not always feasible, resulting in the use of teacher-only implementation. As IY-TCM is often utilized as a teacher-only implementation, it is imperative to determine if its’ effectiveness persists without parental involvement or direct child intervention. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effectiveness of IY-TCM on reducing behavioral problems in children.

Methods: Best-practice guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as outlined by Littel et al. (2009) and PRISMA standards, were followed. Data was gathered through systematic searches of the following electronic databases: PsycARTICLES – APA PsycNET, PsycINFO – APA PsycNET, ERIC – EBSCO, ERIC – ProQuest, PubMed NLM, Social Science Citations Index, Social Science Premium Collection, Social Sciences Full Text, Academic Search Complete, Social Services Abstracts, PsycINFO – ProQuest, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. This study specifically focuses on outcomes related to the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program. Eligibility of the studies was determined by their setting and age criterion: studies that evaluate the intervention in schools with youth under 13 years old were included. The outcomes included are those related to disruptive behavior, as these are the most prevalent problem behaviors displayed in classrooms, according to researchers (Ford et al., 2017).

Results: The original search yielded 1,911 articles, with a final sample size of 7 studies displaying outcomes of 12,300 children in total; 5,547 children were analyzed for conduct-related outcomes, and 6,753 children analyzed for attention-hyperactivity outcomes. The evidence, according to the meta-analysis, determined non-significant results for IY-TCM on conduct-related and attention-hyperactivity outcomes. No studies were found regarding oppositional outcomes. In all seven studies, reductions were observed among behaviors for children within the intervention groups of each study, compared to those in control groups, but the findings displayed non-significant effects.

Conclusion: Overall, the evidence does not support the continued implementation of this intervention as a stand-alone intervention for either conduct-related problems or attention/hyperactivity problems. The findings suggest the implementation of IY may be ineffective without parental involvement or implementation directly on children. This review indicates that very few studies have been conducted on the overall effectiveness of the IY-TCM as a stand-alone intervention, specifically randomized controlled trials. Of the few conducted, even fewer display significant effects across outcomes. The findings suggest that classroom management alone may not enough for intervening with children.