Effects of a Class-Based School Violence Prevention Program for Elementary School Students

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a class-based school violence prevention program for elementary school student. Methods: 29 students were assigned to the school violence prevention program of 8 sessions, 28 students have been assigned to the control group. We assessed participants at baseline and post-intervention, through their self-report questionnaires such as Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and school violence experience, awareness about school violence, and coping ability to school violence. We compared the baseline and post-intervention result of each group and compared the post-test scores between the intervention group and the control group. Results: Comparing the intervention group and the control group, the post-intervention CDI total score and the awareness about school violence showed significant improvement in the intervention group. When compared according to gender, male students' perception of school violence was improved, and female students showed significant differences in CDI scores. Conclusion: The CDI total scores and the perception of school violence were improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. And there are differential pattern of intervention effects according to gender. These findings have important implications to develop effective violence prevention programs.