Effects of School-Based Interventions on Secondary School Students with High and Low Risks for Antisocial Behaviour

This article describes the methodology and program effects of a multicomponent model of interventions designed to prevent antisocial behaviour in secondary school students. Interventions included cooperative learning, classroom management, and peer tutoring, mentoring, and mediation. Data from the Secondary Schools Demonstration Project (SSDP) implemented in Ontario, Canada, schools were analyzed to assess whether the interventions had similar and/or differential effects on groups of students with low and high risks for antisocial behaviour. The study involved a two-group matched comparison before-and-after design. Data were collected at baseline for all ninth-grade students (average age 14 years) in the four schools, and from a subsample of the students at follow-up. The findings showed that the interventions generated similar improvements in the low and high-risk groups of youth. However, the positive effects were slightly more pronounced in the low-risk youth. The discussion proposes future directions for research and practice.