title: The role of children's on-task behavior in the prevention of aggressive behavior development and peer rejection: a randomized controlled study of the Good Behavior Game in Belgian elementary classrooms.
abstract: The role of children's on-task behavior in the prevention of aggressive behavior was assessed among 570 Dutch speaking children followed from second- to third-grade elementary school in Flanders, Belgium. A first objective was to investigate whether individual level variation of on-task behavior moderated the impact of a universal preventive intervention, the Good Behavior Game (GBG), on aggression development, controlling for classroom levels of on-task behavior. The second goal was to study whether improved on-task behavior or reductions in peer rejection mediated intervention impact on children's aggression. Second-grade classrooms were randomly assigned to the GBG or a control condition. Results showed that intervention impact was found only among children who had low-level on-task behavior at baseline. These children showed a decrease in aggression when in the GBG condition, which was not found among control group children. The reduction in aggression among low on-task children was mediated by reductions in peer rejection. No mediation effect of on-task behavior was found. These results suggest that the effect of a universal preventive intervention may depend upon initial levels of on-task behavior and that improvements in social relations with peers may explain the reductions in aggression among these low-on task children.
authors.affiliation: University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Belgium, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Geertje.leflot@lessius.eu
authors.forename: Geertje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leflot
authors.forename: Pol A C
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van Lier
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Onghena
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Colpin
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012574:Schools