Abstract
The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a method of teacher classroom behavior management, was tested in first- and second-grade classrooms in 19 Baltimore City Public Schools beginning in the 1985–1986 school year. The intervention was directed at the classroom as a whole to socialize children to the student role and reduce aggressive, disruptive behaviors, confirmed antecedents of a profile of externalizing problem outcomes. This article reports on the GBG impact on the courses and interrelationships among aggressive, disruptive behavior through middle school, risky sexual behaviors, and drug abuse and dependence disorders through ages 19–21. In five poor to lower-middle class, mainly African American urban areas, classrooms within matched schools were assigned randomly to either the GBG intervention or the control condition. Balanced assignment of children to classrooms was made, and teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control. Analyses involved multilevel growth mixture modeling. By young adulthood, significant GBG impact was found in terms of reduced high-risk sexual behaviors and drug abuse and dependence disorders among males who in first grade and through middle school were more aggressive, disruptive. A replication with the next cohort of first-grade children with the same teachers occurred during the following school year, but with minimal teacher mentoring and monitoring. Findings were not significant but generally in the predicted direction. A universal classroom-based prevention intervention in first- and second-grade classrooms can reduce drug abuse and dependence disorders and risky sexual behaviors.
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Notes
Given the same intervention, population and similar methods, much of the text describing measures and shared background in this paper is drawn strongly from the Drug and Alcohol Dependence supplemental issue, especially from Kellam et al. 2008 and Petras et al. 2008. For more details see the supplementary material available online.
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During the last 27 or more years this research has been supported by NIMH Grants R01 MH 42968, P50 MH 38725, R01 MH 40859, and T32 MH018834 (with supplements from NIDA for each of the cited research grants), and NIDA grants R01 DA 019984, DA009897 and P30 DA027828.
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Kellam, S.G., Wang, W., Mackenzie, A.C.L. et al. The Impact of the Good Behavior Game, a Universal Classroom-Based Preventive Intervention in First and Second Grades, on High-Risk Sexual Behaviors and Drug Abuse and Dependence Disorders into Young Adulthood. Prev Sci 15 (Suppl 1), 6–18 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0296-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0296-z