A study in Philadelphia (United States) suggests that educators, particularly in the elementary grades, should teach their students problem-solving skills and should provide them with opportunities to develop the leadership capacity to prevent relational aggression in the future.

Relational aggression includes gossip and social exclusion to harm others, and is the most common form of aggression among girls.

The study tests the effectiveness of an aggression prevention program

A recent study conducted by the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) states that teaching leadership skills and providing opportunities for girls to develop leadership skills prevents relational aggression among girls .

The study was published in The Journal Psychology of Violence , and used a randomized sample of African-American girls in grades three through five (8-11 year olds) to test the effectiveness of the program in preventing Friend to Friend (F2F) aggression.

First violence prevention programme to show its effectiveness even one year after its implementation

The F2F is the first and only aggression prevention program that shows its effectiveness in decreasing relational aggression behavior among girls and that, moreover, continues its positive results even one year after the program has ended . This program improves skills and knowledge in social problem solving and causes a decrease in the levels of relational aggression.

“Including learning these kinds of skills in the school curriculum is important because children who attend school, especially in marginal areas, are at serious risk of acquiring emotional and behavioral problems,” says Dr. Stephen Leff, director of this study and co-director of the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI).

“This is evidence that possessing problem-solving skills and having the opportunity to develop leadership capacity increases resilience and leads to a better future in terms of social interactions. This positive approach is infused in the school-based prevention programs that are part of our Philadelphia Children’s Hospital Violence Prevention Initiative ,” adds Dr. Leff.

A program that is more than a decade old

The team of researchers has been developing and redefining the program for a decade thanks to the various investigations it has carried out in the CHOP , in partnership with the main community stakeholders. “This partnership approach has been used to develop the F2F program and to innovate the teaching modalities used in the program itself, such as drawings, videos or role-playing,” says Brooke Paskewich, psychologist and director of the VPI.

In addition, she explains that “involving students, teachers and parents in the design of the program has helped to ensure its cultural sensitivity, adequate development and appropriate use for ethnic minorities.

F2F used in this study, is a program of 20 sessions conducted for 40 minutes per session. It taught social problem-solving strategies and provided opportunities for girls to lead classroom sessions for their peers. A pilot study published in 2009 already advanced the effectiveness of the F2F program in decreasing relational aggression among elementary girls in two North American schools.

The current study included 144 aggressive girls (relational aggression) from 44 different classrooms in the Philadelphia district. The subjects were randomly assigned to the F2F group and the control group for research.

Tips for designing a successful aggression prevention program in school

Dr. Leff, after analyzing the results of his study, offers the following suggestions for the design and evaluation of successful aggression prevention programs:

  • Aggression should be defined in general terms , that is, as any action taken by a child that inflicts physical or mental harm on another child.
  • Programs should focus on prevention and early intervention
  • Programs should emphasize positive social behavior : pro-social behaviors, anger management skills, and respect for peers and adults.
  • Attention should be paid to the recognition and understanding of the different types of aggression: For example, girls more commonly express relational aggression and boys are more likely to participate in acts of physical aggression.
  • There is a need to be sensitive to culture and to encourage collaboration between schools, families and neighbourhoods.
  • Aggression prevention programs must be developed in a way that responds to the specific needs and values of the school and its community.
  • They should incorporate a strong research component and should measure the results. Long-term effects also need to be assessed.
  • More than in the classroom, aggression prevention programs should be carried out in natural environments: for example, playgrounds.