Meeting the Challenges of Longitudinal Cluster-Based Trials in Schools: Lessons From the Chicago Trial of Positive Action

Identification of Important Factors When Measuring School Climate: Latent Construct Validation and Exploration

BACKGROUND

Researchers regularly must decide what information is necessary to understand school climate and how to include climate in a study. For example, which factors and/or scales should be used, is using just 1 scale for school climate sufficient, and to what extent does the selection of a single scale influence the research findings?

AIMS

Understanding what factors to consider and which available scales to review will assist those interested in measuring school climate.

METHODS

This study explores 8 validated scales related to school climate. Data used are from a previous study (Social and Character Development cooperative agreement funded by IES #R305L030072 and #R305A080253) that looked at Positive Action, a social emotional and character development program for elementary-, middle-, and high-school students.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Scale correlations and factor analyses show how these scales work together to measure overall middle school climate.

Mechanisms of Influence on Youth Substance Use for a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program: A Theory-Based Approach

Background: The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. Objectives: We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, Positive Action (PA), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the PA-Chicago, longitudinal matched-pairs cluster-randomized control trial. A diverse, dynamic cohort of approximately 1,200 students from 14 low-performing schools were assessed at eight points of time, between grades 3-8, across a six-year period. Students completed scales related to substance use, self-control, deviant peer affiliation, and school attachment, adapted from the Risk Behavior Survey, Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale, Conventional Friends Scale, and People in My Life Scale. After testing the overall effect of PA on substance use, we used latent growth modeling to assess whether effects on each outcome were mediated by longitudinal changes in three composite measures aligning with the TTIs three streams. Results: Students in PA schools reported fewer experiences with drinking, getting drunk, and overall substance use. In the multiple mediator models, significant indirect effects of PA on substance use via changes in self-control were evident. Conclusions/Importance: Findings are consistent with theory and past research suggesting the influence of self-control on youth substance use. Future studies should include implementation in different settings and additional theory-based measures.Trial RegistrationThis trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01025674.

Lessons Learned in Conducting Community Participatory School-Based Health Research on an American Indian Reservation

BACKGROUND

Describing lessons learned from using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to conduct school-based child health research in a tribal community is an important contribution to the literature.

OBJECTIVES

To identify how CBPR principles shaped the process of conducting a school-based child health intervention, and to describe lessons learned.

METHODS

The study evaluates how CBPR principles guided a mixed-methods, school-based child health intervention to increase physical activity (PA).

RESULTS

Nine key lessons are identified, associated with CBPR principles.

CONCLUSIONS

This information can help researchers understand how to successfully navigate the challenges and opportunities of conducting CBPR-guided research in the context of a small, short-term project, including leadership turnover, multiple Institutional Review Board (IRB)s, and study design approaches amidst schools policy changes. Collectively, understanding the lessons learned through the perspective of CBPR principles may help others conduct meaningful research with schools and children in tribal communities.

Childhood Protective Factors and a Prevention Program Reduce Later Problem Behaviors

Prior research has yet to elucidate how constellations of protective factors in childhood and prevention efforts simultaneously may influence youth involvement in problem behaviors across different points in development. The current study examines how latent classes of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, parent-child relationships, and peer influences in third grade and receipt of an ongoing SEL intervention predict substance use and violence in fifth and eighth grade. The urban, predominantly low-income, sample (N = 1,169) was nested in 14 schools that were randomly assigned to the Positive Action program or business-as-usual. Membership in a latent class reflecting protective childhood factors predicted less substance use and violence in fifth grade; however, the SEL program predicted less substance use and violence in eighth grade. Findings generally support that SEL interventions can successfully target and boost developmentally appropriate positive behaviors and can prevail over initial risk factors with enough time and exposure.