Outcomes: International findings from these interventions indicate that they are effective across a range of social, emotional and behavioural outcomes with moderate to strong effect sizes reported. Programme effects include significant improvement in participants’:
• emotional literacy skills, self regulation, cooperation skills and social competence (Incredible Years;
Peace Builders)
• interpersonal skills and reduction in stress and social impairments among high risk children (Incredible
Years)
• prosocial behaviour and reduction in disruptive / aggressive behaviour (Second Step; Good Behaviour
Game; Incredible Years)
• improvement in teacher classroom management skills (Incredible Years; Good Behaviour Game). Broader educational, health and social outcomes include:
• improved ability to focus and achieve academically (Good Behaviour Game: at 14 year follow up) • reduced alcohol misuse (Good Behaviour Game: at 14 year follow up)
The two classroom management strategies reported that the interventions have been most effective for males with higher levels of aggressive disruptive behaviour. Additional outcome findings from the evaluation of the Incredible Years programme in the UK indicate a significant reduction in teachers’ negative behaviour towards children (d = -.36) and significant reductions in children’s off-task behaviour (d = 0.53). In addition, high risk children evidence significant reductions in negative attitudes towards their teacher (d = 0.42) and off-task behaviour / non compliance to the task at hand (d = 0.48).
Implementation Findings: All of the interventions are delivered by the classroom teacher. Teacher training and a programme manual are provided for these interventions. Costs including training and materials are provided in the Table 6 in Appendix 1. Cost benefit results for the Good Behaviour Game are reported by Dartington in 2011: Cost = £108, Beneft = £2905, Benefits minus costs = £2797, Benefit cost ratio = 1:26.90, Rate of return on investment 29%, Risk of Loss 2%.
Bullying prevention interventions
Key Findings
• Six bullying prevention interventions identified.
• Three interventions are evidence-based and developed in Norway (Olweus), Finland (KiVa) and US (Steps to Respect). One online intervention developed in US (FearNot!). Two peer- mentoring interventions were developed in the UK (Beatbullying Peer Mentoring, School-based
Peer Mentoring Programme).
• Evidence quality: N = 4 well evidenced interventions, N = 2 interventions shown to be ineffective • Significant positive findings regarding effectiveness (small to moderate effect sizes) of the three interventions that adopt a whole school approach to bullying prevention. International studies of
Steps to Respect, Olweus, KiVa reported improvements in children and young people’s social
and emotional skills including social relations, prosocial behaviour and reduced bullying and victimisation. Broader outcomes include a reduction in antisocial behaviour and delinquency. • Emerging findings on the effectiveness of online FearNot!
• Peer mentoring interventions identified in this review were shown to be ineffective in enhancing participants’ social and emotional skills and in some cases enhance peer victimisation and rates of bullying.
• Characteristics of effective interventions: interventions adopt a whole school approach with material developed for staff training, whole school monitoring, parent guides and classroom curriculum.
Type of Interventions: Six bullying prevention interventions were identified. Three interventions were international evidence-based interventions (Olweus – developed in Norway, KiVa – developed in Finland and Steps to Respect – developed in US). These international evidence-based programmes adopt a whole school approach to bullying prevention. Programmes include school level, classroom and individual level components. One intervention is an online intervention designed to enhance problem solving skills of current and potential victims of bullying (FearNot!). Two peer mentoring interventions were developed in the UK. The Beatbullying Peer Mentoring programme is designed to give young people the opportunity to serve as a source of support for other pupils experiencing difficulties. The School-based Peer Mentoring programme is designed for young people aged between 9 and 12 years who are being bullied or at risk of being bullied. Students are referred to the programme and are matched with an older peer mentor who they meet on a one- to-one basis, in a small group or as and when needed through a drop-in service. FearNot!, Steps to Respect and the School-based Peer Mentoring Programme are implemented with children in primary school. Two interventions are implemented in primary and secondary school (Olweus and KiVa). The Beatbullying Peer
Mentoring programme is implemented in secondary school. These interventions adopt a social learning,
problem solving, behavioural approach to teaching social emotional skills to counter bullying behaviour and promote healthy relationships.
Quality of Studies: All six interventions are implemented in the UK, three interventions have international evaluations (Olweus, Steps to Respect and KiVa) and three interventions were evaluated in England (FearNot!,
Beatbullying Peer Mentoring and School-based Peer Mentoring Programme). Two of these interventions
were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design (FearNot!, School-based Peer Mentoring Programme) and one intervention was evaluated using a a pre-post study design with no control group (Beatbullying Peer
Mentoring). Sample sizes ranged from 1,621 participants (School-based Peer Mentoring Programme) to
341 participants (Beatbullying Peer Mentoring). Three interventions were determined to be well evidenced as a result of having a number of rigorous evaluation studies (Steps to Respect) or at least one good quality study (Olweus, KiVa, FearNot!). The evidence from the peer mentoring interventions was limited as a result of no control group (Beatbullying Peer Mentoring) and insufficient information regarding measures used to evaluate programme effectiveness (Beatbullying Peer Mentoring and School-based Peer Mentoring
Programme). Standardised outcome measures were used to evaluate the impact of three interventions
(Olweus, Steps to Respect, Kiva). These measures included Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (Olweus, 1996), Participant Role Questionnaire (Salmivalli & Voeten, 2004), Pro-victim Scale (Rigby & Slee, 1991), School Environment Survey (Csuti, 2008), and the Positive Bystander Behaviour Scale (Banyard, 2008). Outcomes: International findings from the evidence-based programmes include:
• improvements in student social competency (Steps to Respect, Cohen’s d = 0.13) • improvements in positive social relationships (Olweus; Steps to Respect)
• improvements in positive bystander behaviour (Steps to Respect, Cohen’s d = 0.14) • less acceptance of bullying and aggression (Steps to Respect)
• reductions in self-reported bullying (Olweus)
• reductions in self-reported victimisation (Olweus; KiVa: Cohen’s d = 0.33 peer report and 0.17 self- report)
• reductions in assisting the bully (KiVa: Cohen’s d = 0.14) and reinforcing the bully (KiVa: Cohen’s d = 0.17)
• reduction in school bullying related problems (Steps to Respect, Cohen’s d = 0.35) • improved school climate (Steps to Respect, Cohen’s d = 0.21).
Broader outcomes for Olweus and Steps to Respect include a significant decrease in other forms of delinquency and antisocial behaviour.
The results from the evaluation of the online intervention FearNot! indicate its potential in reducing victimisation. Baseline victims of bullying in the intervention group were significantly more likely to avoid victimisation at post-intervention when compared with the control group. However, these results were not maintained at four months follow up. The results from the UK developed peer mentoring interventions are less positive. The Beatbullying Peer Mentoring intervention resulted in a significant reduction in self- reported bullying at post-intervention and pupil-reported peer victimisation increased at post-intervention, however, the programme had no significant impact on pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing including peer interaction, feelings of negative emotion and self worth. Results from the School-based Peer Mentoring
Programme indicated a significant increase in mentored students’ levels of school satisfaction at post-
intervention, however, this group were more likely to report being bullied (not statistically significant) than the control group at post-intervention. In addition, this programme did not have an impact on life satisfaction or prevalence of bullying. Whilst these results could indicate that the peer mentoring programmes may have increased the students’ awareness of bullying and what actions and behaviours constitute bullying, it is possible that the peer mentoring interventions were insufficient to address the problem of bullying and could have exacerbated the problem with a sole focus on those being bullied and not those engaging in bullying behaviour and the wider school environment.
Implementation Findings: Both of the peer mentoring programmes provided insufficient information regarding programme training and supervision. The Beatbullying Peer Mentoring study reports that mentors are provided with training in listening, mentoring and cybermentoring. The School-based Peer Mentoring
Programme study reported that a not-for-profit mentoring and befriending agency supports implementation
by providing each school with general guidelines on programme practice. Schools are encouraged to use matching criteria when matching the mentee and mentor, ensure that mentors were supported and received regular training, utilise referral criteria for the selection of mentees and facilitate regular meetings between the mentor and mentee. Information regarding the type of training that young people received was not provided. In contrast to this, the evidence-based interventions (Olweus, KiVa, Steps to Respect) provide whole school training to teachers and a manual to guide implementation. For the KiVa intervention, networks of school teams are created and these networks meet three times during the school year with a KiVa trainer guiding the network. Information regarding the cost of training for the Olweus programme is provided in Table 6 in Appendix 1.
Substance misuse prevention interventions
Key Findings
• Five substance misuse prevention interventions identified.
• Four are evidence-based interventions developed in US (Lifeskills Training, Keeping it Real, All
Stars, Project Star). One intervention is an evidence-based Australian intervention (SHAHRP).
• Programmes are implemented with young people in the junior end of secondary school (11-14 years). Three interventions are classroom-based brief interventions (Keepin’ it Real, SHAHRP,
All Stars). Lifeskills Training is implemented over three years. Project STAR adopts a whole
school approach to implementation.
• Evidence quality: N = 5 well evidenced interventions as a result of a number of rigorous evaluations (LifeSkills Training and Project STAR) or at least one good quality study (Keepin’ It
Real, All Stars, SHAHRP).
• These programmes are proven effective in improving young people’s knowledge and use of resistance strategies in relation to risk-taking behaviour and reducing alcohol, cigarette and drug use.
• Lifeskills Training has a well established evidence base with long term findings in relation to reduced substance use, violence and delinquency reported at 6 years follow up. Project STAR also reported significant long term findings in relation to reduced substance misuse and use of mental health services.
• Characteristics of effective interventions: interventions based on understanding social influences and developing life skills including communication skills, assertiveness, peer resistance strategies, self regulation; adopt a holistic long term approach to programme implementation.
Type of Interventions: Five substance misuse prevention interventions were identified. Four interventions are evidence-based interventions originating from the US (LifeSkills Training, Keepin’ It Real, All Stars and
Project Star). One intervention is an Australian evidence-based intervention (SHAHRP). Project STAR (also
known as Midwestern Prevention Project) was adapted to the UK context and combined with components of LifeSkills Training and is currently being implemented in the UK as Blueprint (Baker, 2006). These interventions aim to prevent substance misuse through enhanced decision making and resistance strategies. In addition to targeting substance misuse, LifeSkills Training aims to prevent violence and All Stars is designed to prevent violence and premature sexual activity. SHAHRP is slightly different in that it is a harm reduction intervention targeting alcohol consumption as opposed to a prevention intervention. Three interventions are classroom-based brief interventions consisting of 10-14 lessons (Keepin’ it Real, SHAHRP,
All Stars). The LifeSkills Training programme consists of 30 lessons implemented over three years. Project STAR is a multi-component drug prevention programme that consists of a curriculum component, parent
component, school drug advisor support, media and health policies. These substance misuse prevention interventions are based on social learning theory and competence enhancement models of prevention. The interventions address multiple risk and protective factors and teach personal and social skills that build personal self management, social skills and resilience.
Quality of Studies: Four of the five interventions were delivered with young people (age 11-14 years) in secondary school in the UK. One intervention (SHAHRP) was culturally adapted for schools in Northern Ireland and implemented with young people age 13-14 years in Greater Belfast. This intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with 2,349 students from 29 secondary schools assigned to one of two intervention groups (teacher implemented vs drug and alcohol educator from voluntary sector) or a control group. Standardised outcome measures were used to determine the impact of the programme on alcohol related knowledge and use (McKay et al., 2012 All five interventions were determined to be well
evidenced as a result of a number of rigorous evaluations (LifeSkills Training and Project STAR) or at least
one good quality study (Keepin’ It Real, All Stars, SHAHRP).
Outcomes: Results from the US evaluations of four interventions indicate the significant positive effect of these substance misuse prevention interventions on knowledge and behaviour related to substance use and violence. Results include significant improvements in use of peer resistance strategies, self regulation and personal skills:
• reduced personal acceptance of drug use (Keepin’ It Real, maintained at 2 and 8 month follow up) • increased personal commitment to not use drugs (All Stars)
• increased use of strategies to resist marijuana use (Keepin’ It Real) • increased use of strategies to resist cigarette use (Keepin’ It Real)
Broader outcomes include significant:
• reduction in alcohol use (LifeSkills Training, maintained at 6 years follow up; Keepin’ It Real, maintained at 14 months follow up; All Stars; Project STAR, maintained at one year follow up)
• reduction in marijuana use (LifeSkills Training, maintained at 6 years follow up ; Keepin’ It Real) • reduction in cigarette use (LifeSkills Training, maintained at 6 years follow up; Keepin’ It Real,
maintained at 8 months follow up; All Stars; Project STAR, maintained at one and two year follow up) • reduction in inhalant use (All Stars)
• reduced expectations of positive consequences of substance use (LifeSkills Training, maintained at one year follow up ; Keepin’ It Real)
• reduced rates of lifetime amphetamine use (Project STAR, maintained at age 17 and 28) • reduction in violence and delinquency (LifeSkills Training, maintained at 3 month follow up • increased scores for school bonding - how students felt received at school (All Stars)
• reduced use of mental health services compared with control at age 27-30 (Project STAR).
Findings from the evaluation of the SHAHRP intervention in Northern Ireland indicate a significant improvement in participants’ alcohol related knowledge, attitudes towards alcohol use, less alcohol related harm and lower consumption of alcohol at ‘last time of use’.
Two interventions investigated the impact of programme fidelity on programme outcomes. Keepin’ It Real reported that intervention students who saw four or more intervention videos reported significant fewer days of alcohol use, fewer drinks consumed, fewer days of marijuana use and fewer hits of marijuana. Participants who saw fewer than four videos did not report lower rates of substance use. Similarly, LifeSkills
Training reported the strongest intervention effects were observed among students exposed to at least 60%
of the programme. This programme was reported to have a significant positive effect among young people identified as at high risk for substance use initiation. McKay et al. (2012) also reported that behavioural effects as a result of the SHAHRP intervention were most significant among the group who self-reported drinking at the baseline.
Implementation Findings: Information regarding costs of LifeSkills Training, Keepin’ It Real and All Stars are presented in the Table 6. Cost benefit analyses information is available for two interventions:
• LifeSkills Training: Cost = £27 per participant, Total Benefits = £288, Benefits minus Costs = £261,
Benefit cost ratio 1:10.67, Rate of return on Investment 72% and Risk of Loss 1% (as reported by Dartington, no date provided)
• Project Star: Cost = £332, Total Benefits = £399, Benefits minus Costs = £63, Benefit cost ration 1:1.19,
Rate of return on Investment 0% and Risk of Loss 29% (as reported by Dartington, no date provided). All five interventions are implemented by the class teacher using a programme manual. Teacher training (average two days) is mandatory for all five interventions. Results from the SHAHRP intervention, which examined the impact of the programme when implemented by the class teacher versus a trained drugs and alcohol educator from the voluntary sector, indicated that intervention effects were greater for external facilitators compared to the class teacher. However, these results are in contrast to US evaluations of All
Stars which found the programme to be effective when implemented by the class teacher as opposed to an