Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, MD, 21205, Baltimore, USA.
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, MD, 20705, Beltsville, USA.
Prev Sci. 2022 Aug;23(6):907-921. doi: 10.1007/s11121-022-01334-y. Epub 2022 Mar 1.
Three generations of developmental epidemiologically based randomized field trials of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) have been delivered to Baltimore elementary schools. With the collaboration of family and community partners, all three trials were directed at decreasing proximal targets of aggressive behavior and improving learning in first-grade classrooms with distal mental health and substance abuse outcomes. GBG is a group-contingent classroom behavior management strategy that promotes classmate/peer concern for each child's positive behavior by rewarding teams with below-criterion levels of aggressive, disruptive behavior. GBG targets early risk factors for the above distal outcomes: aggressive, disruptive behavior, family/school relationships, and school failure. Here, we report on the third-generation randomized prevention trial of the GBG (whole-day first grade program (WD)), including 12 elementary schools. WD enhanced the standard curriculum in the areas of classroom behavior management; academic instruction, particularly reading; and family-classroom partnerships. Using a within-school classroom randomized trial design, we: 1) evaluate the effectiveness of the WD program by sex and cohort and 2) measure variation in WD impact by the quality of teachers' behavior management practices. Data from 961 first graders were used in general growth mixture modeling that accounts for classroom randomization to identify distinct developmental trajectories of aggressive, disruptive behavior and GBG impact on these trajectories. In the chronic high aggression trajectory of males, ratings of aggression after WD implementation and to the end of third grade were significantly lower in the WD condition than in controls in classrooms with a higher WD dosage (Cohort 2) and especially in classrooms with higher quality of WD implementation. For females, we found a modest but significant benefit of GBG in the low trajectory class when cohorts were combined. Regarding policy implications, embedding GBG into the curricula in teacher's colleges could better support student learning and behavior. Clinical Trials Registration number: NCT00257088.
三代基于发展的、有随机现场试验的良好行为游戏（GBG）已在巴尔的摩的小学中实施。通过家庭和社区合作伙伴的合作，所有这三个试验都旨在减少攻击性行为的近端目标，并通过奖励具有低于标准水平的攻击性、破坏性行为的团队，改善一年级教室的学习，同时获得更遥远的心理健康和药物滥用结果。GBG 是一种基于群体的课堂行为管理策略，通过奖励团队具有低于标准水平的攻击性、破坏性行为，促进同学/同伴对每个孩子的积极行为的关注。GBG 针对上述遥远结果的早期风险因素：攻击性行为、破坏性行为、家庭/学校关系和学业失败。在这里，我们报告了第三代 GBG 的随机预防试验（全天一年级课程（WD）），包括 12 所小学。WD 在课堂行为管理、学术指导、特别是阅读以及家庭-课堂伙伴关系等方面增强了标准课程。我们使用校内课堂随机试验设计：1）按性别和队列评估 WD 计划的有效性，2）通过教师行为管理实践的质量衡量 WD 影响的变化。共有 961 名一年级学生的数据用于一般增长混合模型，该模型考虑了课堂随机化，以确定攻击性、破坏性行为的不同发展轨迹以及 WD 对这些轨迹的影响。在男性的慢性高攻击轨迹中，在 WD 实施后和三年级末，WD 条件下的攻击性评分明显低于对照组，在 WD 剂量较高的课堂（队列 2）和 WD 实施质量较高的课堂中尤其如此。对于女性，当合并队列时，我们发现 GBG 在低轨迹班级中具有适度但显著的益处。关于政策意义，将 GBG 嵌入教师学院的课程中可以更好地支持学生的学习和行为。临床试验注册号：NCT00257088。
