Childhood Protective Factors and a Prevention Program Reduce Later Problem Behaviors

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Youth problem behaviors are influenced by a complex interplay of individual, familial, and social factors.
• Prior research has not fully elucidated the combined impact of protective factors and prevention programs on developmental trajectories of problem behaviors.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for designing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how latent classes of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, parent-child relationships, and peer influences in third grade, along with an SEL intervention, predict substance use and violence in fifth and eighth grades.
• To investigate the long-term effects of early protective factors and ongoing SEL programs on youth problem behaviors.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study involving 1,169 urban, predominantly low-income students across 14 schools.
• Schools were randomly assigned to the Positive Action SEL program or a business-as-usual control group.
• Latent class analysis was used to identify protective factor constellations in third grade, predicting outcomes in fifth and eighth grades.

Main Results:

• Membership in a latent class characterized by protective childhood factors predicted reduced substance use and violence in fifth grade.
• Participation in the SEL intervention predicted reduced substance use and violence in eighth grade, suggesting long-term benefits.
• The SEL program demonstrated an ability to mitigate initial risk factors over time.

Conclusions:

• Social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions can effectively promote positive behaviors and mitigate risks for substance use and violence.
• Protective factors in early childhood play a significant role in immediate behavioral outcomes.
• Sustained exposure to SEL programs can lead to lasting positive behavioral changes, even overcoming initial risk factors.