A Meta-Analysis of Aggressive Behavior Intervention Research

Abstract

Physical aggression is a serious issue in public schools. Meta-analyses have suggested that school-based interventions are generally effective in reducing direct, physically aggressive behavior, but it has been several years since a meta-analysis has been conducted. The current meta-analysis adds to the existing literature by synthesizing the results of 20 outcome studies published since 2004. Overall, the effects of these interventions appear to be relatively small, d=.15. Interventions delivered by researchers tended to produce greater effects than those delivered by teachers. Likewise, interventions delivered with greater fidelity tended to produce greater effects than those interventions delivered with lower fidelity or not reporting any fidelity measurements. Results also indicate "demonstration" and "research" programs are far more common than "routine" programs in the literature, and the outcomes that are reported are more likely to have greater effects than is typical in routine school practices. Future research should focus on evaluation of routine practices and include more commonly used data collection procedures such as office discipline referrals or incident reports.