Effects of Child Skills Training in Preventing Antisocial Behavior By: Friedrich Losel & Andreas Beelmann Angelique Marshall Radford University

Purpose To analyze the preventive effects of child skills training on antisocial behavior and related outcomes.  provide a basis for a differentiated evaluation of the preventive potential of child skills training  permit conclusions on the practical implementation of such programs  offer perspectives for practice, policy making, and research

Literature Review  All retrievable published or unpublished reports in the English or German Languages that had appeared no later than 2000  Methods  Electronic Sources- keywords…Prevention; antisocial behavior; social skills training; evaluation; meta-analysis; childhood and adolescence  Psyc-Info  Medline  Eric  Dissertation Abstracts

Literature Review  References given in existing reviews were checked systematically  References given already identified primary studies were analyzed for further relevant publications  Studies  Approximately 851 found  84 met eligibility criteria that included 135 treatment/control group comparisons

Studies to Include  Must contain an evaluation specifically addressing a social training program for the prevention of antisocial behavior in children and youth  Randomized control group design  Pre-intervention and post-intervention data had to be available  Age: zero to eighteen years  Focus on prevention  Outcome measures: data had to be reported in sufficient detail to permit an adequate computation

Potential Moderators Independent Variables  Publication year  Sample size  Type of randomization  Type of treatment  Trainers  Age  Type of prevention

Potential Moderators Dependent Variables  Experimental design: treatment and control group  Specifically addressing a social training program for prevention of anti-social behavior  Post-intervention measurements  Follow-up measurements

Results for Dependent Moderators Outcome Measurements N Fixed Model d Post-intervention total Significant from 0 & Heterogeneity Antisocial behavior Significant from 0 & Heterogeneity Social skills Significant from 0 & Heterogeneity Social-cognitive skills Significant from 0 & Heterogeneity

Results for Dependent Moderators Outcome Measurements N Fixed Model d Follow up total34.14 Significant from 0 & Heterogeneity Antisocial behavior 20.06Heterogeneity Social skills Significant from 0& Heterogeneity Social-cognitive skills 12.33Significant

Results for Independent Variable Moderators Low sample size in many of the studies Low sample size in many of the studies Performed multiple significance testing without alpha adjustments Performed multiple significance testing without alpha adjustments Some effects are based on only a few studies Some effects are based on only a few studies Random model is not very sensitive for moderator effects Random model is not very sensitive for moderator effects Moderators are to some extent confounded Moderators are to some extent confounded

Conclusion Studies demonstrate a positive overall effect that is small but robust Studies demonstrate a positive overall effect that is small but robust Cognitive-behavioral programs targeting high-risk youngsters who already exhibit some behavioral problems seem to be particularly effective. Cognitive-behavioral programs targeting high-risk youngsters who already exhibit some behavioral problems seem to be particularly effective.