Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Classroom-Wide Social–Emotional Interventions for Preschool Children

Abstract

Background: All children benefit from intentional interactions and instruction to become socially and emotionally competent. Over the past 30 years, evidence-based intervention tactics and strategies have been integrated to establish comprehensive, multitiered, or hierarchical systems of support frameworks to guide social–emotional interventions for young children. Objectives: To review systematically the efficacy of classroom-wide social–emotional interventions for improving the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of preschool children and to use meta-analytic techniques to identify critical study characteristics associated with obtained effect sizes. Method: Four electronic databases (i.e., Academic Search Premier, Educational Resource Information Center, PsycINFO, and Education Full Text) were systematically searched in December 2015 and updated in January 2018. “Snowball methods” were used to locate additional relevant studies. Effect size estimates were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses for three child outcomes, and moderator analyses were conducted. Results: Thirty-nine studies involving 10,646 child participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review, with 33 studies included in the meta-analyses. Random-effects meta-analyses showed improvements in social competence ( g = 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.28, 0.56]) and emotional competence ( g = 0.33, 95% CI = [0.10, 0.56]), and decreases in challenging behavior ( g = −0.31, 95% CI = [−0.43, −0.19]). For social competence and challenging behavior, moderator analyses suggested interventions with a family component had statistically significant and larger effect sizes than those without a family component. Studies in which classroom teachers served as the intervention agent produced statistically significant but smaller effect sizes than when researchers or others implemented the intervention for challenging behavior. Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis support using comprehensive social–emotional interventions for all children in a preschool classroom to improve their social–emotional competence and reduce challenging behavior.

Social and Emotional Learning in Preschool Settings: A Systematic Map of Systematic Reviews

“…However, some differences emerged. Luo et al (2020) identified and screened more than twice the number of records (n 30 361) compared to Blewitt et al (2018) (n 13 035). The number of full-text articles assessed for eligibility were similar (Blewitt et al, 2018, n 362 vs. Luo et al, 2020 but in the final stage, Blewitt et al (2018) included approximately twice the number of studies (n 79) compared to Luo et al (2020) (n 39).…”

“…Luo et al (2020) identified and screened more than twice the number of records (n 30 361) compared to Blewitt et al (2018) (n 13 035). The number of full-text articles assessed for eligibility were similar (Blewitt et al, 2018, n 362 vs. Luo et al, 2020 but in the final stage, Blewitt et al (2018) included approximately twice the number of studies (n 79) compared to Luo et al (2020) (n 39). The differences could be attributed to diverging choices of databases where Blewitt et al (2018) included a database covering biomedical and health research (MEDLINE Complete), while Luo et al (2020) chose to search the multidisciplinary Academic Search premier, which does not have a medical focus, and the Education Full Text database, which covers education and related fields of research.…”

“…In terms of PICO, Blewitt et al (2018) specified a slightly broader age range for inclusion. Twenty-four of the non-overlapping studies included by Blewitt et al (2018) included children outside of the age range specified by Luo et al (2020), 21 of these studies included children above the age range of Luo and colleagues. In addition, Blewitt et al (2018) included gray literature, which also accounts for some of the non-overlapping articles.…”

“…Both reviews reported interventions primarily from North America. Blewitt et al (2018) reports approximately 65%, while Luo et al (2020) reports 72% of studies as being located in North America, respectively. Interventions were most often delivered by teachers, with 67% of studies reported by Blewitt et al (2018) and 74% of studies reported by Luo et al (2020), respectively, as containing teacher-directed interventions.…”

“…Blewitt et al (2018) reports approximately 65%, while Luo et al (2020) reports 72% of studies as being located in North America, respectively. Interventions were most often delivered by teachers, with 67% of studies reported by Blewitt et al (2018) and 74% of studies reported by Luo et al (2020), respectively, as containing teacher-directed interventions. Blewitt et al (2018) reports that interventions typically occurred within the context of classroom activities using developmentally appropriate teaching methods.…”