title: Preventing negative behaviors among elementary-school students through enhancing students' social-emotional and character development.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine the effects of a comprehensive, school-wide social-emotional and character development program using a positive youth development perspective. Specifically, we examined a mediation mechanism whereby positive academic-related behaviors mediated the intervention effects on substance use, violence, and sexual activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Matched-pair, cluster-randomized, controlled design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty (10 intervention and 10 control) racially/ethnically diverse schools in Hawaii.
  
  
  METHODS
  Elementary-aged students (N = 1784) from grade 5.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Positive Action program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students self-reported their academic behaviors, together with their substance use, violence, and voluntary sexual activity; teachers rated students' academic behaviors, substance use, and violence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Structural equation modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students attending intervention schools reported significantly better academic behavior (B = .273, SE = .039, p < .001) and significantly less substance use (B = -.970, SE = .292, p < .01, incidence-rate ratio [IRR] = .379), violence (B = -1.410, SE = .296, p < .001, IRR = .244), and sexual activity (B = -2.415, SE = .608, p < .001, odds ratio = .089); boys reported more negative behaviors than girls. Intervention effects on student-reported substance use, violence, and sexual activity were mediated by positive academic behavior. Teacher reports corroborated these results, with rated academic behavior partially mediating the effects of the intervention on rated negative behaviors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study (1) provides evidence that adds insight into one mechanism through which a social-emotional and character development program affects negative outcomes and (2) supports social-emotional and character development and positive youth development perspectives that posit that focusing on youths' assets may reduce negative behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 389 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06517, USA. frank.snyder@yale.edu
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Acock
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vuchinich
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beets
authors.forename: Isaac J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Washburn
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Flay
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009341:Negativism; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012919:Social Behavior; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control