Testing the Impact of Social Acceptance on Outcomes: Comparing Two Forms of an Intervention for Aggressive Youth

Coping Power is an empirically supported school-based intervention for children at risk for aggression and associated problems. Recent studies have tested individual- and program-level factors that may enhance or hinder meaningful CP outcomes. Some factors, such as inhibitory control and genetic factors, have supported administering CP in an individual format (ICP) instead of group format (GCP). Peer acceptance, as well as concordance between one's actual and perceived acceptance, may impact outcomes depending on intervention format. Further, functional subtypes of aggression (i.e., reactive, proactive) have differential relationships with peer acceptance. This study thus aimed to test whether effects of two intervention formats (group and individual) on aggression outcomes (total, proactive, reactive) differed based on children's actual peer acceptance (aim 1a), or on the agreement between their actual peer acceptance and self-perceived acceptance (aim 1b). To address these questions, secondary data analyses were conducted from a large-scale study that included 360 children with elevated levels of aggression and were randomly assigned to ICP or GCP. Results showed that those who underestimated their peer acceptance relative to actual acceptance performed better in the group format at follow-up when controlling for postintervention aggression, whereas those who had low actual acceptance and accurately perceived their peer acceptance as low performed better in the individual format, especially regarding proactive aggression outcomes. These findings offer important insight into the impact of social acceptance on CP outcomes for different functional subtypes of aggression under distinct intervention formats.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Heilman, Meagan Elizabeth

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• White, Bradley A

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cundiff, Jenny M
• Lochman, John E
• McDonald, Kristina L
• Barth, Joan M

• Aggression
• Coping Power
• Intervention
• Outcomes
• Prevention
• Social Acceptance

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

http://purl.lib.ua.edu/188259
u0015_0000001_0004778
Heilman_alatus_0004D_15108

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/12765