Changing Adolescents' Attitudes About Relational and Physical Aggression: An Early Evaluation of a School-Based Intervention

Abstract

A pilot study evaluating the Second Step, Middle School/Junior High®program was conducted to determine its effect on students' attitudes regarding aggression and perceived difficulty of performing social skills. Sixth-through eighth-grade students (N = 714) were surveyed before and after the program was implemented by teachers in intervention classrooms. Second Step students were taught curricular modules corresponding to their year in middle/junior high school. Program effects were tested using a repeated measures design. Relative to nonparticipants, Second Step students in their second year of school decreased in their overall endorsement of aggression and perceived difficulty of performing social skills. Program effects were less consistent for those in their first year of middle/junior high school. Additional research is needed to investigate program effects under varying conditions (e.g., lesson quality, pacing of lessons) and with long-term exposure.