School-based Violence Prevention Programs Research Articles

Correlates of Intentional and Unintentional Firearm-Related Injuries Among Pediatric Hospital Patients

ABSTRACT Gun violence has continued to be the leading cause of pediatric injuries in recent years (CDC, 2022). Given the sparse literature on this topic, the current study examined correlates of the types of firearm-related injuries (i.e. intentional and unintentional) among pediatric patients within the Trauma Services Division of a Level-1 pediatric hospital (N = 87). The results indicated that patients in later developmental stages, particularly adolescence, and those with higher ACE score were significantly more likely to experience an intentional firearm injury, whereas white patients were significantly less likely to experience an intentional firearm injury, highlighting the structural factors that increase the risk of firearm violence including poverty and systemic racism. We discuss the implications and need for expanded hospital- and school-based violence prevention programs.

Racial Discrimination and Interpersonal Violence in Asian American Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

PurposeRacial discrimination targeting Asians in the United States has increased sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a well-established link with mental/physical health outcomes, little is known about how racial discrimination relates to interpersonal violence, particularly in adolescents. To address this gap in knowledge, we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal (1-year follow-up) associations between racial discrimination and interpersonal violence perpetration and victimization in Asian American adolescents in a large US city. MethodsData from Waves 3 (2020) and 4 (2021) of a randomized clinical trial of a school-based violence prevention program were examined. We limited our sample to participants who identified as Asian American (n = 344; 48.3% female; Meanage = 14.6 years at Wave 3). ResultsAt Wave 3, 26.5% of the adolescents reported experiencing some form of racial discrimination, including 18.3% experiencing verbal harassment due to race and 16.0% reporting inequitable treatment due to race. Relative to their nonvictimized counterparts, adolescents who experienced racial discrimination were more likely to report being a victim of bullying and teen dating violence cross-sectionally and being a bullying victim longitudinally. Moreover, those who experienced racial discrimination reported more bullying and teen dating violence perpetration concurrently, as well as more dating violence perpetration 1 year later. DiscussionIn the understudied population of Asian American adolescents, we found that experiencing racial discrimination contributes to both interpersonal violence victimization and perpetration. Youth violence prevention could include strategies addressing racial discrimination.

Effectiveness of Digital Health Tools to Prevent Bullying among Middle School Students

Bullying is a widespread public health problem with significant behavioral and mental health consequences. The current study tested the effectiveness of combining interactive digital material for students, educators, and parents with class sessions to prevent bullying among middle school students. Fourteen middle schools were randomly assigned to intervention and comparison conditions. Both conditions received a classroom-based drug and violence prevention program that taught social skills, self-management skills, and social resistance skills. The intervention condition included class material on bullying and an educational video game for students that reinforced the classroom program; it also included digital material on bullying for parents and school staff. All students completed online pre- and post-test surveys to assess bullying-related behavior, knowledge, and life skills. Results indicated that students in the intervention schools reported significantly less bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and increased life skills knowledge relative to comparison schools. This study provides evidence that a school-based drug abuse and violence prevention program, when enhanced with a set of digital tools for students, parents, and school staff, holds considerable potential for addressing bullying among middle school adolescents.

Gun violence in K-12 schools in the United States: Moving towards a preventive (versus reactive) framework

Intentional shootings in K-12 schools in the U.S. persist as a public health problem. The number of shootings in K-12 schools has increased precipitously since 2017. And with approximately 100,000 K-12 public schools nationally serving 51 million children, investing in a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy is critical. Unfortunately, our current school gun violence prevention approach almost exclusively centers reactive strategies that are in place to respond to acts of gun violence in the moment, rather than preventive strategies that would prevent them from occurring at all. Reliance on these strategies alone, however, is not sufficient. In line with the core tenets of public health prevention and the Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community model, we present a more expansive school gun violence prevention framework that broadens the spectrum of what constitutes “school gun violence prevention.” Our work highlights how enhancing basic neighborhood and school structures—including investments in public libraries, affordable housing, and universal school-based violence prevention programs—are key to both preventing gun violence and promoting well–being. We also highlight the role of stricter gun laws, reasonable school security efforts, bystander interventions, building awareness within school communities, and meaningful investments in early interventions and mental health services. Children, who have been tragically exposed to any number of adverse experiences in the wake of the COVID–19 pandemic, deserve more reasoned choices and large-scale investments in understanding and cutting off the root causes of school gun violence; not just a reliance on strategies that focus on what to do in the moment of a violent act. As gun violence in K–12 schools persists, we must reframe the discourse about school gun violence around prevention, not reaction.

Evaluating Complex Interventions Using Qualitative Longitudinal Research: A Case Study of Understanding Pathways to Violence Prevention.

Evaluating social change programs requires methods that account for changes in context, implementation, and participant experience. We present a case study of a school-based partner violence prevention program with young people, where we conducted 33 repeat interviews with nine participants during and after an intervention and analyzed participant trajectories. We show how repeat interviews conducted during and after a social change program were useful in helping us understand how the intervention worked by providing rich contextual information, elucidating gradual shifts among participants, and identifying aspects of the intervention that appear to influence change. Long-term effects of social change interventions are very hard to quantify or measure directly. We argue that a qualitative longitudinal approach provides a way to measure subtle changes that can serve as proxies for longer term impacts.

A Systematic Review of Associations Between Adverse Peer Experiences and Emotion Regulation in Adolescence.

Adolescence is a developmental period marked by changes in cognition, emotion, and social relations. For example, sensitivity to social feedback increases as peer relationships become more important yet less stable, leaving adolescents vulnerable to experiences of peer victimization and rejection. Given that prefrontal brain regions responsible for regulatory abilities continue to mature during adolescence, the brain is especially susceptible to environmental influences. As such, exposure to adverse peer experiences may undermine emotion regulation development. Thus, the present review sought to elucidate the association between adverse peer experiences and emotion regulation in adolescence (i.e. age 12-17years). Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic review of the literature assessing adverse peer experiences (victimization and rejection) and emotion regulation (including neurobiological, behavioral, cognitive levels of analysis) was conducted (Narticles included = 27). Results demonstrate that adverse peer experiences are negatively associated with emotion regulation processes, behaviorally and neurally. Although variability in definitions and measurement of constructs make nuanced comparisons between studies difficult, the present systematic review organizes this body of literature and discusses how promising theoretical perspectives, including the cognitive control of emotion model and social information processing theory, may help to explain this association. Finally, recommendations for future work to expand our understanding of these processes, and for intervention and prevention efforts (e.g., school-based violence prevention and socio-emotional learning programs, parenting practices) that may serve to ameliorate outcomes for youths facing adverse peer experiences and emotion dysregulation, are discussed.

Evidence Map of School-Based Violence Prevention Programs in Israel

School-based youth violence is a worldwide concern. One common approach to dealing with this problem is implementing state-sponsored intervention programs for large populations of pupils. However, there is a growing concern that school-based interventions (SBIs) are being implemented without sufficient evaluations of their efficacy and cost-effectiveness. We take Israel as a national case study. Although its state education system strongly advocates an evidence-based approach to implementing “best-practice” SBIs, it is unclear to what extent Israeli SBIs are informed by impact evaluations. We coded information on all SBIs aimed at reducing violence in the state education system and reviewed the quality of evaluations associated with each SBI. Of 1,510 SBIs, 113 were dedicated to violence prevention programs in schools. Only 15 of these programs (13%), however, had any quantitative appraisal, and only two completed tests of SBIs were assessed using randomized controlled trial designs; five programs in total were evaluated under sufficiently rigorous conditions. We conclude that without valid causal estimates of treatment effects, Israeli pupils will continue to be at risk of being exposed to unhelpful and potentially damaging SBIs.

Pilot Evaluation of Setu, a School-Based Violence Prevention Program Among Indian Adolescents

A quasi-experimental study was conducted in the eighth grade of two public schools located in Central Delhi. Two classes (95 participants) in the intervention school and three classes (108 participants) in the comparison school participated. The brief intervention was implemented across four 2-hour sessions for 1 month in the intervention school. Self-reported violence behavior (bullying, fighting, and victimization) was measured at baseline, posttest, and a 6-month follow-up in both schools. Students and teachers also provided feedback regarding feasibility and acceptability. The difference-in-difference analyses indicated nonphysical aggression, physical aggression, and victimization were significantly lower in the intervention group vis-à-vis comparison group at the 6-month follow-up, but not at baseline or immediate posttest, suggesting sleeper effects. Qualitative feedback indicated that the intervention was acceptable to students and suggested that implementation quality was a key to program effectiveness. These findings suggest that the intervention may curtail the increase in violent behavior in early adolescence.

Adolescent sexual aggressiveness and pornography use: A longitudinal assessment

The rising prevalence of (online) pornography use among, mostly male, adolescents revived social concerns regarding possible effects of pornography use on sexual aggressiveness. Given the paucity of longitudinal explorations of this link, this study focused on the following two research questions: (Q1) Is pornography use during middle to late adolescence related to male adolescents' self-reported sexual aggressiveness; and (Q2) can personality traits and characteristics that have been associated with sexual aggression account for this presumed link? Using data from a six-wave panel sample of 594 male Croatian high-school sophomore students (Mage at baseline = 15.8 years, SD = 0.52), latent class and latent growth curve modeling were employed to answer these questions. There was a significant baseline difference in the frequency of pornography use between participants who reported no or marginal levels of sexual aggressiveness during the period under observation (20 months) and their peers who reported substantial sexual aggressiveness, with the former reporting significantly lower initial levels of pornography use compared to the latter. Controlling for personality characteristics did not cancel this association. In addition, bullying and reported peer pressure significantly predicted initial levels of pornography use, but not its subsequent change. With the controls omitted from the analysis, a slight average increase in pornography use was observed among adolescents who reported no or lowest levels of sexual aggressiveness. In contrast, pornography use decreased somewhat among their peers who reported moderate sexual aggressiveness. Insights from this study can contribute to school-based sexual violence prevention programs, as well as inform recently proposed pornography literacy programs which aim to assist adolescents in navigating the increasingly sexually explicit online environment.

Spatial Analysis of the Impact of a School-Level Youth Violence Prevention Program on Violent Crime Incidents in the Community.

This study investigated the effect of a school-based violence prevention program on community rates of violence for youth aged 10 to 18 in three urban communities with high rates of crime and poverty. We evaluated the impact of the Olweus Bully Prevention Program (OBPP) combined with a family intervention using a multiple baseline design in which we randomized the order and timing of intervention activities across three schools. Outcomes were police reports of violent crime incidents involving offenders aged 10 to 18years (N = 2859 incidents) across a 6-year period. We used Bayesian hierarchical regression modeling to estimate the reduction of youth violence in the census blocks of the intervention middle school zones. Models controlled for percent female head-of-household, median household income, and percent renter-occupied housing units. Block groups within the attendance zones of schools receiving the intervention had a reduced risk of violence compared with those that did not (relative risk = 0.83, 95% credible interval = 0.71, 0.99). Our findings suggest that the school-level intervention was associated with a significant reduction in community-level youth violence. Public health professionals, program planners, and policy-makers should be aware of the potential community-wide benefit of school-level interventions.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a High School Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault Bystander Prevention Program: School Personnel and Student Perspectives.

Relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA) are concerning issues for high school youth that occur at alarmingly high rates. Therefore, school-based prevention programs are often developed to try to mitigate these issues. The attitudinal and behavioral changes stemming from school-based intervention programs are often the primary focus of outcome research, but it is also important to identify program feasibility (e.g., dosage, adherence) and acceptability (e.g., likeability). The current study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a high school classroom-based RA and SA intervention, Bringing in the Bystander-High School Curriculum (BITB-HSC); the BITB-HSC also includes a workshop and reading materials for school personnel and parents. Data were collected after the BITB-HSC was administered in high schools from students who participated in the program (N = 970) and school personnel who were exposed to some components of the BITB-HSC and provided feedback (N = 161). Results indicate that overall students were adherent to the BITB-HSC (e.g., attended sessions) and that the majority of students understood the information presented, thought the program was good, and liked the facilitators. School personnel data indicated that they were generally supportive of the program and found the school personnel workshop and handout helpful. These findings extend current knowledge regarding the implementation of school-based violence prevention programs and highlight the importance of research on program feasibility and acceptability when developing a program for large-scale dissemination.

How Urban Black Girls Write and Learn from Ethnographically-based Poetry to Understand and Heal from Relationship Violence

This paper explores the engagement of African-American, Caribbean-American, and immigrant West African girls in the critical analysis and writing of poetry to make sense of their multi-dimensional lives. The authors worked with high-school aged girls from Brooklyn, New York who took part in a weekly school-based violence prevention program, and who became both 'participants' in an ethnographic research study with the authors and 'poets' as they creatively analyzed themes from research data. The girls cultivated a practice of reading and writing poetry that further explored dating and relationship violence, themes that emerged from the violence prevention program sessions and the ethnographic interviews. The girls then began to develop 'poetic knowledge' grounded in their lived experiences as urban Black girls. The authors offer that 'participatory narrative analysis' is an active strategy that urban Black girls enlist to foster individual and collective understanding and healing.

Examining the utility of a train-the-trainer model for dissemination of sexual violence prevention in schools

Rates of childhood sexual abuse are unacceptably high, with potentially long-lasting consequences for those who have been victimized. Currently, there are a number of sexual violence prevention programs that have been developed to lower rates of victimization, increase awareness, and connect victims with resources. Within this area of research, there has been less focus on effective methods of program dissemination. For example, school-based sexual violence prevention programs have had positive outcomes; however, little is known about how these programs are disseminated. The train-the-trainer model of dissemination utilizes master trainers to equip others to implement programs, thereby allowing more adults to teach and subsequently more children to receive the program. This study used survey data from teachers and other school personnel (n = 127) to analyze the utility of a train-the-trainer model of dissemination for a sexual violence prevention program in the state of Hawai’i. Through responses of people who were trained to implement the program (59.8% of whom did implement), aspects of the training, the program itself, and factors affecting whether a person implemented the program were explored. Results suggest that time spent in training, job position, and time in that position predicted whether a person trained to implement the sexual violence prevention program followed through with teaching the program to students. Additionally, 54.7% of people who did implement the program had at least one student disclose sexual violence to them, indicating the importance of sexual violence prevention programming and dissemination of these programs.

Evaluation of the expect respect support group program: A violence prevention strategy for youth exposed to violence

In the present study, we assess the effects of the Expect Respect Support Groups (ERSG) on frequency of teen dating violence (TDV) and general youth violence. ERSG is a school-based violence prevention program for youth who have been exposed to violence in their home, school, or community. Boys and girls (N=1,678, Mage=14.3, S.D.=1.7, Range=11-17) from 36 schools in Texas participated in this accelerated longitudinal (7-year trajectory) study beginning in 2011. Latent growth curve analyses were conducted using three waves of data from three cross-sectional cohorts of adolescents. Among boys, the number of ERSG sessions attended related to incremental declines in psychological TDV perpetration and victimization, physical TDV victimization, sexual TDV perpetration and victimization, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression. Girls attending ERSG demonstrated reductions in reactive and proactive aggression. The present findings suggest ERSG may be an effective cross-cutting strategy to reduce TDV and other forms of violence among high-risk boys and possibly girls. This information provides valuable understanding of TDV and youth violence in high-risk populations and may be useful in tailoring future prevention efforts to different groups of teens.

Evaluation of Violence Prevention Approaches Among Early Adolescents: Moderating Effects of Disability Status and Gender

High prevalence rates of aggression during adolescence and associated adjustment difficulties for perpetrators and victims highlight the need for effective violence prevention programs. School-based prevention programs are advantageous as they occur in a key setting for youths' social and emotional development. The current study compared the efficacy of a combined universal violence prevention approach that included individual-level skill-building (i.e., lessons from Second Step) and school environment (i.e., Olweus Bullying Prevention Program; OBPP) interventions to OBPP alone. Participants were 231 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (ages 11–15; M = 12.6, SD = 1.0) in middle school (48 % male, 67 % African American). A total of 14 classrooms were randomly assigned to the combined intervention (seven) or OBPP only comparison (seven) condition, split evenly across grades. Intervention effects were moderated by disability status and gender. Among students without disabilities those who received the combined intervention reported greater increases in anger regulation coping skills than those in the comparison condition. In contrast, among youth with disabilities greater increases in teacher-rated social skills were found for students in the combined intervention than students in the comparison condition at posttest. Gender-moderated effects included greater decreases in teacher ratings of externalizing problems and bullying behaviors for boys in the combined intervention versus the comparison condition at posttest. Study results inform school-based violence prevention programs and are discussed along with implications.

Association Among Subtypes of Bullying Status and Sexually-Risky Behaviors of Urban African American Adolescents in Chicago

Bullying is found to be associated with various negative psychosocial outcomes. However, few studies have explored the association between bullying involvement and sexually-risky behaviors. Youth were recruited from three high schools, one youth church group, two community youth programs, and four public venues. Six hundred-and-thirty-eight urban African American adolescents (aged 12-22) in Chicago completed a self-report questionnaire. Major findings indicated that males were more likely than females to have sex with someone in exchange for drugs. Bullying perpetration, victimization, and perpetration-victimization were negatively associated with having sex with a condom. Older youth, and those identified as perpetrators and perpetrator-victims were more likely to have impregnated someone or been pregnant. Stress and coping framework should be considered. Bullying prevention should provide youth with several healthy coping strategies for reducing sexually-risky behaviors. Community-based and school-based violence prevention programs need to consider sexual risk outcomes associated with involvement in bullying.

Longitudinal Relations Between Peer Victimization, Emotion Dysregulation, and Internalizing Symptoms Among Early Adolescents

The current study examined longitudinal relations between overt and relational victimization, sadness and anger dysregulation, and depressive and anxiety symptoms across 6 months among an ethnically diverse sample of sixth graders ( N = 485; 48% male; 65% African American). No direct longitudinal relations were found between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms or between internalizing symptoms and peer victimization, and these findings were consistent across gender and disability status. The relation between overt victimization and subsequent increases in relational victimization was stronger for youth with versus without high incidence disabilities. Significant indirect effects were found for overt victimization on both depressive and anxiety symptoms via sadness dysregulation. The strength of the indirect effects did not differ by gender. Findings highlight the merits of school-based violence prevention programs that address emotional management and are embedded within multi-tiered school environment interventions.

An Evaluation of Second Step

The impact of a school-based violence prevention program, Second Step, on peer victimization and aggression, and emotion regulation was evaluated among 457 sixth graders. A cluster-randomized trial was conducted with classrooms randomly assigned to intervention ( n = 14) or control ( n = 14) conditions. A repeated measures analysis of covariance on each measure was conducted using random effects. Several intervention effects were moderated by gender and disability status. Teacher-rated relational victimization at posttest decreased for students with disabilities in intervention but not control classrooms. Students without disabilities in intervention classrooms reported greater decreases from pretest to 6-month follow-up in overt aggression. Boys in the intervention classrooms had smaller increases in teacher-rated overt aggression at posttest than boys in control classrooms. Girls in intervention classrooms reported greater decreases from pretest to 6-month follow-up in relational aggression than girls in control classrooms. Study implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Participants' Perceptions of a Violence Prevention Curriculum for Middle School Students: Was It Relevant and Useful?

School-based youth violence prevention programs, particularly those focused on middle school students, have generally had limited effects that are often not sustained over time. Although many interventions focus on teaching social-cognitive skills, few studies have explored the extent to which students master these skills, actually use them, and find them effective in dealing with problem situations. This study examined these issues based on interviews with 141 students attending one county and two urban middle schools in classrooms where the Second Step violence prevention program had been implemented. We coded interviews to assess participants' general reactions to the interventions, use of skills, and effectiveness of skills. We also asked participants to describe outcomes they experienced when they used specific skills taught in the intervention in response to problem situations. Participants had generally positive reactions to the intervention. Their suggestions for improving the intervention primarily concerned improving its relevance. Participants described changes they had made based on the intervention, particularly controlling anger and improving relations with others. Their responses indicated that they sometimes misunderstood or misused specific intervention skills, especially problem solving and empathy. Students' descriptions of the outcomes they experienced when using intervention skills were not uniformly positive. This was especially true for situations involving peers such as peer pressure and bullying. These results underscore the need for more intensive efforts to ensure that students master intervention skills and are able to use them correctly. In addition, interventions should address the broader social context (e.g., peers, school) to maximize the effectiveness of skills.

A qualitative analysis of factors influencing middle school students' use of skills taught by a violence prevention curriculum

This study examined factors that influenced the use of skills taught in a school-based universal violence prevention program. Interviews were conducted with 91 students from two urban schools (83% were African American and 12% multiracial) and 50 students from a nearby county school (52% were White, 32% African American, and 12% multiracial). About half the sample (54%) was male. All had been in sixth grade classrooms where the Second Step (Committee for Children, 1997b) violence prevention curriculum had been implemented earlier in the school year or in the preceding school year. Qualitative analysis of interview transcripts suggested that participants' use of intervention skills was influenced by their beliefs and values, perceived relevance and effectiveness of the skill, issues related to enacting the behavior, and contextual factors. These findings highlight the need for a more intensive and comprehensive effort to address barriers and supports that influence the relevance and impact of school-based violence prevention programs.