Effectiveness of school-based universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs: Do they enhance students' development in the area of skill, behavior, and adjustment?

• Published in: Psychology in the schools Vol. 49; no. 9; pp. 892 - 909
• Main Authors: SKLAD, MARCIN, DIEKSTRA, RENÉ, RITTER, MONIQUE DE, BEN, JEHONATHAN, GRAVESTEIJN, CAROLIEN
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, NJ Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2012; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley
• Subjects: Antisocial Behavior; Antisocial behaviour; Austria; Behavior Development; Biological and medical sciences; Canada; Classroom Environment; Communication (Thought Transfer); Comparative Education; Curriculum; Denmark; Educational psychology; Elementary Secondary Education; Emotional Development; Europe; Exceptions; Foreign Countries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Germany; Interpersonal Competence; Intervention; Knowledge Level; Luxembourg; Medical sciences; Mental health; Meta Analysis; Miscellaneous; Outcomes of Education; Prevention. Health policy. Planification; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Prosocial Behavior; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; School based; School Role; Selfimage; Skill Development; Social Development; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Social skills; Substance Abuse; United States; Denmark; Canada; Austria; United States; Luxembourg; Germany; Human; Sanitary program; Academic achievement; Health promotion; Prosocial behavior; Mental health; Substance abuse; School environment; Metaanalysis; Prevention; Efficiency; Adolescent; Child; Social behavior disorder; Public health
• DOI: 10.1002/pits.21641
• ISSN: 0033-3085

To answer the question of whether teaching social and emotional skills to foster social–emotional development can help schools extend their role beyond the transfer of knowledge, the authors conducted a meta‐analytical review of 75 recently published studies that reported the effects of universal, school‐based social, emotional, and/or behavioral (SEB) programs. The analyzed interventions had a variety of intended outcomes, but the increase in social skills and decrease in antisocial behavior were most often reported. Although considerable differences in efficacy exist, the analysis demonstrated that overall beneficial effects on all seven major categories of outcomes occurred: social skills, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, positive self‐image, academic achievement, mental health, and prosocial behavior. Generally, immediate effects were stronger than delayed effects, with the exception of substance abuse, which showed a sleeper effect. Limitations of the analysis and moderators of the effectiveness of SEB programs in schools are discussed in the final section of the article.