Multisite Violence Prevention Project Research Articles

Effect of Yoga on Adolescents’ Beliefs about Aggression and Alternatives

International Journal of Medicine and Public Health,2017,7,3,166-171.DOI:10.5530/ijmedph.2017.3.34Published:Aug 2017Type:Original ArticleEffect of Yoga on Adolescents’ Beliefs about Aggression and AlternativesGovindaraja Setty A.G, Pailoor Subramanya, and B.Mahadevan Govindaraja Setty A.G.1*, Pailoor Subramanya2, B.Mahadevan3 1PhD Scholar Swami Vivekananda Yoga University (SVYASA)#19, Eknath Bhavan, Gavipuram Circle, K.G.Nagar, Bangalore-560 019, Karnataka ,INDIA. 2Associate Professor Swami Vivekananda Yoga University (SVYASA) #19, Eknath Bhavan, Gavipuram Circle, K.G.Nagar, Bangalore-560 019, Karnataka, INDIA. 3Professor Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Bangalore – 560076, Karnataka, INDIA.Abstract:Introduction: While the adolescents are trying to adapt to changing life styles and emerging challenges, they are also becoming increasingly aggressive/violent. This is largely attributable to increased competition, stress, and anxiety, besides poor parenting methods. Several studies seek to understand the causes for this delinquency and search for preventive interventions. Indian traditional texts claim that yoga is one of the important preventive interventions. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of yoga in addressing the non-clinical adolescents’ beliefs about aggression and alternatives compared to physical exercises (PE). Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty eight normal healthy adolescents participated in this ‘Randomized Control Trial’ design study (Yoga: 76, aged 14.03±1.00 years; PE: 82, aged 14.06 +/- 1.03 years). Yoga/PE intervention was for one hour a day, five days a week, for four weeks. Adolescents’ ‘beliefs about aggression and alternatives’ were measured using ‘beliefs about aggression and alternatives scale’ developed by Multisite violence prevention project (2004). Data analysis was done using SPSS 21.0. Results: Yoga practitioners significantly decreased their overall beliefs supporting aggression (p<.05) and significantly increased their beliefs favoring alternatives to aggression (p<.05), compared to PE practitioners. Conclusion: Four weeks yoga practice significantly reduces the adolescents’ beliefs supporting aggression and increases their beliefs supporting alternatives to aggression compared to PE. Keywords:Aggression, Alternatives, Beliefs about Aggression, Physical Exercises, YogaView:PDF (238.45 KB)

Family Functioning and High Risk Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior: Examining Effects by Ethnicity.

The relationship between family functioning and adolescents' physical aggression has been well established, but whether these relationships might differ by ethnicity has received less attention. Ethnic variations may be important for targeting prevention programs to specific youth and families. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between family cohesion, parental monitoring, and physical aggression using data from the Multisite Violence Prevention Project sample of high-risk youth (elevated aggression). Participants were 1,232 high-risk middle school students (65% male; 70% African American; 15% Hispanic). Meaningful demographic variations were identified. After controlling for intervention condition and study site, family cohesion was significantly negatively related to physical aggression, more so for Hispanic youth. Parental monitoring was negatively associated with physical aggression for African American youth only. Our findings point to the importance of developing culturally sensitive family interventions to prevent physical aggression in middle school.

Moderating Effects of School Climate on Outcomes for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project Universal Program

This study examines to what extent baseline school climate moderates the effects of a randomized controlled trial of a universal violence prevention intervention. School climate was assessed by teacher ratings of the quality of relationships among school members and the seriousness of school problems. Cluster analysis revealed three climate types: distressed, average, and conducive. Mixed‐effects regression models of data from 5,256 students suggested limited overall positive program outcomes for students in schools assigned to the universal intervention versus students in schools assigned to control conditions. There was, however, evidence of differential effects of the universal intervention by climate type. These findings have important implications for identifying school characteristics that researchers and practitioners should consider in planning universal school‐based interventions.

Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: From Programs to Strategies and commentaries

Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: From Programs to Strategies and commentaries

The Moderating Role of Developmental Microsystems in Selective Preventive Intervention Effects on Aggression and Victimization of Aggressive and Socially-Influential Students

Although ecology is often cited as an important factor in prevention, it is infrequently incorporated to the evaluation of intervention effects. This study tests the moderating role of three developmental microsystems (family, peer, and school) on a family-focused intervention to prevent violence. The family intervention was part of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, a trial involving random assignment of 37 schools to four conditions: 1) a universal intervention composed of a student social-cognitive curriculum and teacher training, 2) a selective multiple family group intervention, 3) these two interventions combined, and 4) a no-intervention control condition. The present study focused on 1,113 eligible families from two cohorts. Students attending schools that were randomly assigned to the selective family intervention were compared with students in other conditions. Composite indicators of risk were formulated for each microsystem and entered as moderators of intervention effects on violence and aggression perpetration and overt and relational victimization. Results of intent-to-treat and dose-weighted analyses indicated that peer risk moderated outcomes, but family and school risk did not. Intervention effects were limited to youth with elevated peer risk at the outset of intervention. This pattern points to the importance of peer groups in the effects of family-focused interventions, particularly with high-risk early adolescent youth. More generally, the results illustrate the importance of mesosystems for understanding prevention effects.

Risk and Direct Protective Factors for Youth Violence: Results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Multisite Violence Prevention Project

<h3>Background</h3> This study was conducted as part of a multisite effort to examine risk and direct protective factors for youth violence. <h3>Purpose</h3> The goal was to identify those factors in the lives of young people that increase or decrease the risk of violence. These analyses fill an important gap in the literature, as few studies have examined risk and direct protective factors for youth violence across multiple studies. <h3>Setting/participants</h3> Data on 4432 middle-school youth, from the CDC Multisite Violence Prevention Project were used. <h3>Main outcome measures</h3> Evaluations were made of effects of variables coded as risk and direct protective factors in the fall of 6th grade on violence measured in spring of 7th and 8th grades. Factors tested included depression, delinquency, alcohol and drug involvement, involvement in family activities, academic achievement, attitudes toward school, truancy, and peer deviance. Most variables were coded with two sets of dummy variables indicating risk and protective directions of effects. <h3>Results</h3> Results showed that higher teacher-rated study skills were associated with lower subsequent violence across genders and ethnic groups. Affiliation with deviant peers was significantly associated with increased subsequent violence among youth reporting their race/ethnicity as white or other, marginally associated with increased violence among African-American youth, and unrelated among Latino youth. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This study identified some factors than should be areas of interest for effective prevention programs. Some ethnic differences also should be considered in planning of prevention. <h3>Trial registration</h3> The CDC Multisite Violence Prevention Project completed enrollment prior to July 2005.

The Impact of Maternal Depressive Symptoms on Adolescents’ Aggression: Role of Parenting and Family Mediators

Previous research has found an association between mothers’ depressive symptoms and their adolescents’ involvement in aggression. The present study examined three mechanisms believed to account for this relation: parenting practices, family functioning, and informant discrepancy. Participants were a high-risk sample of 927 mother–adolescent dyads (66% African American) who completed baseline assessments for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Adolescents’ aggression was assessed using parent- and teacher-report on the Behavior Assessment System for Children and student-report on the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale. Mothers’ reports of depressive symptoms were significantly related to their adolescents’ aggression based on student, teacher, and mothers’ reports, with the strongest correlations found with mothers’ reports. Multilevel modeling indicated that maternal depressive symptoms were related to the degree of discrepancy between mothers’ ratings of their adolescents’ aggression and ratings by adolescents and their teachers. Smaller discrepancies between mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of adolescents’ aggression were found for depressed mothers, as compared to non-depressed mothers. Structural equation models indicated that the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and mothers’ report of adolescents’ aggression was mediated by several parenting and family functioning variables, with the clearest effects for parenting practices. Similar findings were not found in analyses predicting adolescents’ ratings and teachers’ ratings. These findings underscore the potential direct and indirect benefits of interventions focused on reducing depression among mothers with adolescent children.

Levels and growth of specific and general norms for nonviolence among middle school students

This study examined the levels and growth of specific and general normative beliefs about nonviolence (called norms for nonviolence). The sample consisted of 1254 middle school students from four metropolitan areas who participated in the control condition of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. We predicted that the association and endorsement of specific and general norms for nonviolence would strengthen over time, levels and growth of norms for nonviolence would be moderated by gender and ethnicity, and norms for nonviolence would be related to youths’ behaviors. Linear mixed models found that levels and direction of growth in specific and general norms varied as a function of gender, age, and ethnicity, providing partial support for our hypotheses. Specific and general norms for nonviolence were also consistently positively related to students’ social skills and negatively related to students’ aggressive behavior. Implications for understanding adolescent development are discussed.

Predictors of family participation in a multiple family group intervention for aggressive middle school students

AbstractThe authors examine predictors of family participation in the G.R.E.A.T. Families Program of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP), a four‐site collaboration examining student, teacher, and family interventions for middle school students. Teachers recruited two cohorts of sixth grade students, recognized as being aggressive and influential with their peers, and their families into a voluntary, 15‐session weekly program. Among the 643 families that consented (66%), the mean number of sessions attended was 8.13, with almost half (48.3%) attending 11 or more sessions. Linear mixed models (LMMs) were developed to predict the number of sessions attended based on a cluster of demographic variables and scales designed to measure aggression, problem behaviors, family factors, and other psychosocial constructs. Three of the nine clusters held significance when associated with attendance: level of aggression as rated by the child (negative association), parent–child bond (negative association), and level of child victimization (positive association). Somewhat surprisingly, the variance component due to interventionist turned out to be small and to constitute a nonsignificant component of the overall variability in attendance. Results suggest that family recruitment for multiple family group programs can be achieved with substantial effort and that resources available for recruitment might be differentially applied across families based on predictors of attendance. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Impact of a Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program on Social-Cognitive Outcomes

This study evaluated the impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive factors associated with aggression and nonviolent behavior in early adolescence. The effects of the universal intervention were evaluated within the context of a design in which two cohorts of students at 37 schools from four sites (N = 5,581) were randomized to four conditions: (a) a universal intervention that involved implementing a student curriculum and teacher training with sixth grade students and teachers; (b) a selective intervention in which a family intervention was implemented with a subset of sixth grade students exhibiting high levels of aggression and social influence; (c) a combined intervention condition; and (d) a no-intervention control condition. Short-term and long-term (i.e., 2-year post-intervention) universal intervention effects on social-cognitive factors targeted by the intervention varied as a function of students' pre-intervention level of risk. High-risk students benefited from the intervention in terms of decreases in beliefs and attitudes supporting aggression, and increases in self-efficacy, beliefs and attitudes supporting nonviolent behavior. Effects on low-risk students were in the opposite direction. The differential pattern of intervention effects for low- and high-risk students may account for the absence of main effects in many previous evaluations of universal interventions for middle school youth. These findings have important research and policy implications for efforts to develop effective violence prevention programs.

The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Impact of a Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program on Social-Cognitive Outcomes

The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Impact of a Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program on Social-Cognitive Outcomes

Validity of teacher ratings in selecting influential aggressive adolescents for a targeted preventive intervention.

This study describes a method for using teacher nominations and ratings to identify socially influential, aggressive middle school students for participation in a targeted violence prevention intervention. The teacher nomination method is compared with peer nominations of aggression and influence to obtain validity evidence. Participants were urban, predominantly African American and Latino sixth-grade students who were involved in a pilot study for a large multi-site violence prevention project. Convergent validity was suggested by the high correlation of teacher ratings of peer influence and peer nominations of social influence. The teacher ratings of influence demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity when predicting peer nominations of influence among the most aggressive children. Results are discussed in terms of the application of teacher nominations and ratings in large trials and full implementation of targeted prevention programs.

The multisite violence prevention project: Background and overview

Abstract This paper provides an overview of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, a 5-year project to compare the effects of a universal intervention (all students and teachers) and a targeted intervention (family program for high-risk children) on reducing aggression and violence among sixth graders. First, the paper describes the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in developing the project. Second, it details the background of researchers at the four participating universities (Duke University, The University of Georgia, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Virginia Commonwealth University) and examines the characteristics of the selected schools ( n=37). Finally, the paper summarizes the theoretical perspectives guiding the work, the development of interventions based on promising strategies, the decision to intervene at the school level, the research questions guiding the project, the research design, and the measurement process for evaluating the results of the program.

Lessons learned in the Multisite Violence Prevention Project collaboration: Big questions require large efforts

This paper summarizes some organizational, scientific, and policy lessons that have emerged in the formation and conducting of the collaboration of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. We contend that these lessons are valuable for other collaborations and are important for furthering the utility of scientific efforts. A central contention is that large-scale efforts such as this collaboration are underused but are essential for efficient advancement of knowledge about preventing youth violence.

Evaluating the impact of interventions in the Multisite Violence Prevention Study: Samples, procedures, and measures

This paper discusses the procedures and measures that were developed and utilized to evaluate the impact of the GREAT (Guiding Responsibility and Expectations in Adolescents Today and Tomorrow) programs in the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP). First, we describe the three different samples used to examine the impact of the programs, and the different sources of data used to assess these samples. Next, we outline procedures used to collect and manage the data. In the last section, we summarize the final set of measures selected for use in this study. Throughout the paper, we highlight ways in which the participating institutions collaborated to develop consistent procedures for use across the four sites. Overall, the paper provides important information related to the evaluation of violence prevention efforts, particularly for working effectively in multisite collaborative studies.

The multisite violence prevention project: A commentary from academic research

The multisite violence prevention project: A commentary from academic research

The study designed by a committee: Design of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project

Abstract This article describes the research design of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP), organized and funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC's objectives, refined in the course of collaboration among investigators, were to evaluate the efficacy of universal and targeted interventions designed to produce change at the school level. The project's design was developed collaboratively, and is a 2 × 2 cluster-randomized true experimental design in which schools within four separate sites were assigned randomly to four conditions: (1) no-intervention control group, (2) universal intervention, (3) targeted intervention, and (4) combined universal and targeted interventions. A total of 37 schools are participating in this study with 8–12 schools per site. The impact of the interventions on two successive cohorts of sixth-grade students will be assessed based on multiple waves of data from multiple sources of information, including teachers, students, parents, and archival data. The nesting of students within teachers, families, schools and sites created a number of challenges for designing and implementing the study. The final design represents both resolution and compromise on a number of creative tensions existing in large-scale prevention trials, including tensions between cost and statistical power, and between internal and external validity. Strengths and limitations of the final design are discussed.

Surgeon general's commentary: CDC Multisite Violence Prevention Project: evaluating the prevention of youth violence

K eeping children healthy and ensuring that they reach their full potential continues to be an important challenge for us all. There are a number of pressing public health–related issues that have a disproportionate impact on children and adolescents, such as obesity, smoking, and unintentional injuries. The articles contained in this supplement serve as a reminder that interpersonal violence is yet another of these issues. In 2001, Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General1 Youth Violence: Report of the Surgeon General. Available at: www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/. Accessed September 20, 2003 Google Scholar was released by my immediate predecessor, Surgeon General David Satcher. The report brought national attention and visibility to the problem of youth violence.