Efficacy of a Randomized Trial of a Community and School-based Anti-violence Media Intervention Among Small-town Middle School Youth

Abstract

In a community randomized controlled trial, intervention middle school students from small towns were exposed to a community and school-based anti-violence intervention ("Resolve It, Solve It"). The primary intervention was a media campaign in which local high school students served as models in print, radio, and television PSAs and spearheaded local school and community activities. The media campaign was supported with school and community events that reinforced campaign messages. Tests of recognition and recall indicated widespread exposure to the media intervention. Multiple group latent growth models indicated that relative to control students, intervention students reported significant differences in rates of growth for intent for violence, physical assault against people, verbal victimization, and perceived safety at school. No differences were found for verbal assault, physical assault against objects, physical victimization, or self-efficacy for avoiding violence. When examined by sex, it was determined that results for physical assault against people were obtained only among female students, and changes in verbal victimization and perceived school safety were observed only among male students. These results suggest that a media and reinforcing community intervention led by older peers can alter rates of growth for some measures of violence and associated factors among small-town youth. Further research is indicated to determine how different campaign messages influence students by sex.

Effectiveness of universal school-based programs for prevention of violence in adolescents.

“…Thirdly, Swaim and Kelly (2008) reported a significantly faster rate of decline in VB in intervention students. Finally, Espelage et al (2013) reported that intervention students were significantly less likely to report violent fighting behaviour at post-test.…”

“…Three studies examined the effect on perceived school safety (PSS) or violence. Swaim and Kelly (2008) reported that although PSS declined in both control and intervention schools, the rate of decline was greater in the control schools.…”

“…The SN approaches also varied considerably. Resolve It, Solve It utilised senior students to develop media campaigns to promote anti-violence SNs (Swaim & Kelly, 2008), whereas Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) involved senior students taking on a leadership role and facilitating mentoring sessions with younger students (Katz et al, 2011).…”

Applying Mass Communication Theory to Bystander Intervention in Bullying

“…However, a better estimate of the value of mass communication campaigns should be conducted within a given health or social context, such as bullying prevention, due to the nuanced elements of any given area of interest. There is evidence that mass media campaigns have promise in decreasing elementary and middle school students' violence intentions and self-reported bullying behaviors (McLaughlin et al 2006;Swaim and Kelly 2008). Therefore, although mass communication campaigns have small effects on behavior, they may be particularly useful for targeting knowledge of how to intervene in bullying, particularly if used according to the model described further below.…”

Public health, youth violence, and perpetrator well-being.

“…Botvin, Griffin, & Nichols, 2006;Buckley, Sheehan, & Shochet, 2010;Kliewer et al, 2011;Shetgiri, Kataoka, Lin, & Flores, 2011), social norms approaches (e.g. Katz, Heisterkamp, & Fleming, 2011;Swaim & Kelly, 2008), peer mediation or a combination of these components (e.g. Chauveron, Thompkins, & Harel, 2012;Farrell, Meyer, Sullivan, & Kung, 2003).…”