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Can Universal SEL Programs Benefit Universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on Multiple Trajectories of Social-Emotional and Misconduct Behaviors

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Abstract

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the Positive Action (PA) program on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as “high/declining” and “low/stable”. Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected “low/rising” and “high/rising” trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes.

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Author notes

  1. Robert Duncan

    Present address: School of Education, University of California, Irvine, 2066 Education, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Robert Duncan, Alan C. Acock & Samuel Vuchinich

  2. Human Development and Family Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

    Isaac J. Washburn

  3. Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Kendra M. Lewis

  4. Health Science Department, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Niloofar Bavarian

  5. Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    David L. DuBois

  6. Public Health, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Brian R. Flay

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  1. Robert Duncan
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Correspondence to Robert Duncan.

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Funding

The research reported here was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education: R305L030072, R305L030004, R305A080253, and R305B120013 to the University of Illinois, Chicago (2003–2005), Oregon State University (2005–2012), and the University of California, Irvine (2015–2017). The initial phase (R305L030072), a component of the Social and Character Development (SACD) Research Consortium, was a collaboration among IES, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention, Mathematica Policy Research Inc. (MPR), and awardees of SACD cooperative agreements (Children’s Institute, New York University, Oregon State University, University at Buffalo-SUNY, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University). Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number P01HD06570. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the IES, the US Department of Education or NIH.

Conflict of interest

The research described herein was conducted using the program, the training, and technical support of Positive Action, Inc. in which Brian R. Flay’s spouse holds a significant financial interest. Conflict of interest issues were reported to the relevant institutions and appropriately managed following the institutional guidelines.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Duncan, R., Washburn, I.J., Lewis, K.M. et al. Can Universal SEL Programs Benefit Universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on Multiple Trajectories of Social-Emotional and Misconduct Behaviors. Prev Sci 18, 214–224 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-016-0745-1

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