The Preventing Relational Aggression in Schools Everyday (PRAISE) Program: Adaptations to Overcome Subgroup...

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• School-Based Interventions

Background:

• The Preventing Relational Aggression in Schools Everyday (PRAISE) program is a school-based intervention designed for urban youth.
• Initial trials showed positive effects for girls but limited impact for boys.
• Adaptations were made to enhance program efficacy for boys while maintaining benefits for girls.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the adaptations made to the PRAISE program.
• To evaluate the impact of the adapted PRAISE program on subgroups of students in a new 3-school trial.
• To examine changes in social problem-solving strategies (SIP), hostile attributions (HAB), relational aggression, and overt aggression.

Main Methods:

• A 20-session classroom-based universal prevention program (PRAISE) was implemented in three urban schools.
• Data were collected on girls' and boys' knowledge of SIP, HAB, relational aggression, and overt aggression.
• Pooled analyses compared outcomes for boys between the initial and adapted program trials.

Main Results:

• Girls showed improved SIP knowledge, reduced HAB, decreased relational aggression, and suppressed overt aggression.
• Boys demonstrated decreases in relational aggression and improved academic engagement, but no change in SIP knowledge or HAB.
• Boys in the adapted program showed significant improvements in relational aggression and relational HAB compared to the initial trial.

Conclusions:

• The iterative adaptation of the PRAISE program successfully enhanced its impact for boys.
• The adapted program overcame previous subgroup differences, demonstrating broader efficacy in reducing aggression.
• School-based interventions can be effectively modified to meet the diverse needs of student populations.