Poster #164 - Evaluation of the Buddy Builder Afterschool Program for Promoting Social-Emotional Skills in Elementary School-Aged Children

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Positive youth development programs focused on promoting social-emotional competence, positive identity development, and decision-making skills are effective for preventing aggressive and antisocial behavior (Durlak, Weissberg, & Pachan, 2010; Scott-Little, Hamann, & Jurs, 2002). Typically, these programs are implemented using classroom curricula; however, social-emotional learning programs integrated into afterschool enrichment activities provides a more naturalistic context for learning and practicing these skills. The Buddy Builder program was designed to develop empathy and friendship-making skills in 3rd-5th grade students attending afterschool programs. Afterschool teachers accessed online lesson plans, multimedia training, and topic rationales. The six-week program included: (1) Introduction (program structure and content), (2) Choosing Friends (characteristics of a good friends; how to choose prosocial friends), (3) Making and Keeping Friends: Active Listening, (4) Making and Keeping Friends: Being a Good Conversationalist, (5) Emotion Knowledge (emotions in self and others; all emotions are okay), (6) Simultaneous and Changing Emotions (simultaneous and changing feelings; emotions and behavior are different). Weekly core activities included: (1) Huddle Up (discussion-based introduction); (2) Community Service (students practice social-emotional goals while learning, thinking, and talking about the communities in which they live); (3) Inspiration Station (students imagine successful, future versions of themselves); and (4) Kinesthetic (children practice social skills while being physically active). Enrichment Activities were conducted in music, arts and crafts, and performing arts. Extension Activities included family time, family newsletter, and guest speakers, so that community members could be integrated into the program. Afterschool teachers (n=13) participated in a six-week, randomized controlled trial involving 48 students. Teachers rated students on the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) and the Social Tasks Rating Scale (STRS; Kupersmidt, Floyd, & Asher, 2006), as well as reported on implementation quality. Teachers gave uniformly high ratings on the online teacher training for social-emotional development background information, readiness for teaching the program, confidence in teaching social-emotional skills, and consumer satisfaction. Data were analyzed using a series of repeated measures ANOVAs and the results can be seen in Table 1. Compared to the control condition, teachers in the intervention condition reported that students experienced a statistically significant increase in social skills (i.e., cooperation, assertion, self-control). Though there was a decrease in internalizing symptoms in the intervention group, the interaction was not significant. Teachers in the treatment condition reported statistically significant increases in their students on the Social Tasks Rating Scale (i.e., manage disagreements, cope with victimization, group entry, giving help, conversation skills, playing games). The program was not only effective in boosting many social skills, but it also buffered against some negative effects or decreases in social skills observed in the control group. The findings from this pilot study contribute to the growing literature on the impact of out-of-school time as a context for delivery of positive youth development programming, particularly when social-emotional instruction is seamlessly integrated into enrichment activities.

Authors

• Janis Kupersmidt, innovation Research & Training
  Presenting Author

• Kathryn Stump, innovation Research & Training
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca L Stelter, Innovation Research & Training
  Non-Presenting Author