Research and Results
Reduced Acceptance of Social Exclusion
Van Schoiak-Edstrom, L., Frey, K. S., & Beland, K. (2002). Changing adolescents' attitudes about relational and physical aggression: An early evaluation of a school-based intervention. School Psychology Review, 31(2), 201–216.
Researchers at Committee for Children conducted a quasi-experimental evaluation of the SECOND STEP Middle School curriculum to examine its effects on sixth- and seventh-grade students' attitudes about and levels of physical and relational aggression.
Two-thirds of the study's 714 students were taught SECOND STEP lessons over a year; the remaining third were not. Changes in pre-to-post indicate that sixth-grade students who received the SECOND STEP program endorsed less social exclusion; the seventh-grade females showed less endorsement of physical aggression; and both females and males receiving the program perceived less social difficulty. No differences were found for social exclusion.
Results indicate that the SECOND STEP program has potential for modifying attitudes toward aggression and reducing relational aggression among early adolescents.
