Evaluation of a school-based educational program to prevent adolescents' problem behaviors

Background: Many researchers believe that adolescents' problem behaviors are indicators of a deficiency in social skills. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a prevention program on reducing problem behaviors in male adolescents. Materials and Methods: In a preposttest design...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of education and health promotion 2015, Vol.4
Main Authors: Eslami, Ahmad, Ghofranipour, Fazlollah, Bonab, Bagher, Zadeh, Davood, Shokravi, Farkhondeh, Tabatabaie, Mahmoud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adolescents
Control Groups
Drug use
Grade 1
Original
Prevention
Schools
Students
Studies
Teenagers
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Many researchers believe that adolescents' problem behaviors are indicators of a deficiency in social skills. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a prevention program on reducing problem behaviors in male adolescents. Materials and Methods: In a preposttest design with randomized control group, 49 students received social skills training (SST). Follow-up assessment of outcomes took place 5 months post baseline. The SST program was administered over the course of 10 weeks (10 sessions of 1 h). The main tools were multiple problem behaviors index (MPBI) and Social Skills Rating System - student form (SSRS-S). The control group (57 students) did not receive any intervention. Intervention effects were evaluated with t-test, univariate ANCOVA, and repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Significant difference between groups founded on SSRS at posttest (t = 2.5, P = 0.014) by univariate ANCOVA. In addition, the findings indicated that variation trend of mean scores of SSRS in the intervention group was significant (F = 225.3, P < 0.0001). The intervention group reported Lower levels of MPBI at posttest and follow-up compared to the control group. Significant difference between the two groups did not achieved on MPBI scores in the posttest after adjusting for the pretest scores; however, this difference was significant at the follow up (F = 5.3, P = 0.020). Conclusion: The results suggest that SST was effective in improving social competence and preventing problem behaviors among male adolescent. Future researches must be examined the role of peer and family.
ISSN:2277-9531
2319-6440
DOI:10.4103/2277-9531.154127