Although aggression among girls was once thought to be relatively rare, more recent research suggests that girls frequently engage in relational aggression (e.g., manipulating relationships and social standing through gossip and social exclusion). Further, children who frequently exhibit relationally aggressive behaviors experience a host of externalizing, internalizing, and social difficulties, and are at risk for future mental health disorders. Despite advances in understanding relational aggression and its repercussions, almost all aggression intervention efforts have been designed for physical aggression and for boys. Further, given the increased risk experienced by African American students in inner-city, under-resourced areas, strategies for building the capacity of inner-city schools to promote the development of productive social problem solving skills while decreasing students' levels of relational and physical aggression are critically needed. With funding from NIMH (K23 Award), the principal investigator has designed an intensive 20th session school-based group intervention, which includes a 12 session adjunctive classroom-based component. The goal of this program, termed Friend to Friend (F2F), is to teach 3rd - 5th grade inner-city African American relationally aggressive girls social problem-solving skills and reduce their levels of aggression. The current proposal seeks to develop a classroom-based intervention termed Preventing Relational Aggression in Schools Everyday (PRAISE) that expands upon the classroom-based curriculum of F2F. In phase 1, PRAISE will be developed and fine-tuned through focus groups with students and teachers, by relying upon an expert panel of local school and community stakeholders, and by conducting an open trial pilot study. In phase 2, the acceptability and feasibility of PRAISE for use within a classroom setting will be assessed, effect size estimates for the impact of PRAISE on relationally aggressive girls within experimental classrooms will be derived, and potential effects of the intervention at the classroom level will be preliminarily explored.
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| Leff, Stephen S; Lefler, Elizabeth K; Khera, Gagan S et al. (2012) Preliminary examination of a cartoon-based hostile attributional bias measure for urban African American boys. Am J Community Psychol 49:332-46 |
| Macevoy, Julie Paquette; Leff, Stephen S (2012) Children's sympathy for peers who are the targets of peer aggression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40:1137-48 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Thomas, Duane E; Shapiro, Edward S et al. (2011) Developing and Validating a New Classroom Climate Observation Assessment Tool. J Sch Violence 10:165-184 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Waasdorp, Tracy Evian; Paskewich, Brooke et al. (2010) The Preventing Relational Aggression in Schools Everyday Program: A Preliminary Evaluation of Acceptability and Impact. School Psych Rev 39:569-587 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Waasdorp, Tracy Evian; Crick, Nicki R (2010) A Review of Existing Relational Aggression Programs: Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions. School Psych Rev 39:508-535 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Thomas, Duane E; Vaughn, Nicole A et al. (2010) Using community-based participatory research to develop the PARTNERS youth violence prevention program. Prog Community Health Partnersh 4:207-16 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Cassano, Michael; MacEvoy, Julie Paquette et al. (2010) Initial validation of a knowledge-based measure of social information processing and anger management. J Abnorm Child Psychol 38:1007-20 |
| Leff, Stephen S; Hoffman, Jessica A; Gullan, Rebecca Lakin (2009) Intervention Integrity: New Paradigms and Applications. School Ment Health 1:103-106 |
| Gullan, Rebecca Lakin; Feinberg, Betsy E; Freedman, Melanie A et al. (2009) Using Participatory Action Research to Design an Intervention Integrity System in the Urban Schools. School Ment Health 1:118-130 |
