Inclusive Positive Behaviour Supports

NCT06270914 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: IBIS
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 5,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: While positive school climate is important for students' well-being and mental health, school personnel may experience challenges in creating a nurturing school climate. School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) have shown positive effects on school climate, but fewer studies have been conducted in the European context. Aim: The present project aims to investigate the effectiveness of SW-PBIS programs for students' social-emotional skills and academic achievement as well as teachers' and students' perceptions of the learning environment. Furthermore, the study intends to evaluate how school-level factors mediate or moderate the effects of the intervention. In addition, the study includes a qualitative evaluation of the dynamic interaction processes that occur during program implementation in local school contexts. Methods: Data on school- and individual-level measures are collected in intervention and control schools. With regard to challenges in retaining control groups over extended time periods, two waves of recruitment are used. In the first wave, an active control group is used, and data are collected during three time points. In the second wave, a wait-list control group is used, and data are collected during two time points during one school year. Hierarchical regression analyses will be conducted to explore the effects of SW-PBIS on the outcomes of the study. An ethnomethodological approach will be applied to provide a detailed examination of the social interactional and meaning-making practices of different school implementation teams, and the negotiation of normative expectations and rules of conduct in peer-teacher-student interactions in different classrooms. Discussion: The study is expected to contribute knowledge on the effects of the SWPBIS program and how these effects may be mediated or moderated by school-level factors. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the significance of school contexts in the implementation of the SWPBIS program constitutes the strength of the study. The challenge in the study is the extended period of implementation of SWPBIS, which entails difficulties in retaining a control group over the required time period. Therefore, two waves of recruitment are used, encompassing different procedures of allocation to intervention or control groups.

Conditions

Behavior Problem; Social Skills

Keywords

behavior problem; positive behavior support; prevention; universal

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Social emotional skills

  Social Skills Improvement System - SEL Brief and Mental Health Scales, Teacher K-12 Form contains 20 items related to five competency domains (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making) and 10 items encompassing emotional behavior concerns (internalizing and externalizing concerns). Examples of items are "Asks for help when needed" for social-emotional skills competency domains and "Withdraws from others" for emotional behavior concerns. The items are measured on a 4-point scale (1=Never, 2=Seldom, 3=Often, 4=Almost always). The measures have proved to have sufficient validity and reliability in previous studies.

  11 months

• Classroom environment

  A comprehensive assessment of the classroom learning environment was conducted using questionnaires for teachers and students. The teacher questionnaire consisted of 14 statements, rated on a 4-point scale (1 = does not fit to 4 = fits completely), assessing various aspects of the classroom learning climate. The student questionnaire included 22 statements, also rated on a 4-point scale, gauging students' perceptions of the classroom environment. An example of an item in the teacher questionnaire is "There is a good working climate during lessons". An example of an item in the student questionnaire is "Students in this class are active and interested during lessons".

  11 months

• Students' achievement

  students' achievement on national tests of Swedish and mathematics will be retrieved from register data provided by Statistics Sweden. The data will be standardized across tests and compared with regard to the national average for those students who enter the project in grade 4 and 7 (national tests in grade 3 and grade 6) and finish the project in grade 6 and 9 (national tests in grade 6 and grade 9).

  11 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Collective self-efficacy

  11 months

• Problem behavior in classroom and school

  11 months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Implementation fidelity

  11 months

Study Arms (3)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group will receive the intervention Norwegian manualized program of SW-PBIS, N-PALS (Positiv Atferd, Støttende Læringsmiljø, og Sammhandling).

Behavioral: Inclusive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Active control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Control group in the first wave of data collection is selected in accordance quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control group. The teachers in the control group will, instead of a wait-list intervention, a shortened version of SW-PBIS containing only classroom leadership lectures. The schools that are part of the classroom management group also send staff for instructor training (ten training sessions, 25 hours in total, just as much as the SW-PBIS schools). Similar to the SW-PBIS group, the instructors in this group educate and supervise school staff, supported by a team at the school. Both groups have access to a manual and supporting materials. This design does not pose threats to the internal validity of the study, as classroom leadership is one of principles of PBIS framework. In this way it will be possible to explore the specific contribution of schoolwide PBS in contrast to classroom leadership only.

Behavioral: Inclusive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control group in the second wave of data collection constitutes a wait-list control group and will not be engaged in any kind of intervention during the intervention period.

Interventions

Inclusive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports BEHAVIORAL

The intervention is based on the Norwegian manualized program of SW-PBIS, N-PALS (Positiv Atferd, Støttende Læringsmiljø, og Sammhandling). The Norwegian model shares its core components with the original SW-PBIS model. The program's core components constitute: (a) positive behavior support strategies, including positive expectations and classroom rules, which are followed up with positive feedback and encouragement; (b) a system for monitoring student behavior, (c) school-wide corrections using consequences, (c) instruction in classroom management skills for teachers, and (e) strategies for collaboration with parents. These components are implemented through activities at school level and at classroom level.

Active control; Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 9 Years - 15 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• compulsory school, grades 4-9;
• the school have not been previously enrolled in an SWPBIS program by other providers;
• principal, teachers, students and their parents consent to participate in the study.

You may not qualify if:

• grades other than 4-9;
• the school has previously received or is enrolled in SWPBIS program or other PBS program;
• students or their parents have not consented to participation in the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Uppsala University: lead
• The Swedish Research Council: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Education

Uppsala, Uppland, 752 37, Sweden

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Karlberg M, Klang N, Svahn J. Positive behavior support in school - a quasi-experimental mixed methods study and a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2024 Oct 1;12(1):521. doi: 10.1186/s40359-024-02021-z.

  PMID: 39354572 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders; Social Skills

Interventions

Palliative Care

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Patient Care; Therapeutics; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Central Study Contacts

Martin Karlberg, PhD

CONTACT

018-471 1669; martin.karlberg@edu.uu.se

Nina Klang, PhD

CONTACT

018-471 1674; nina.klang@edu.uu.se

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior University Lecturer

Model Details: This study utilizes quasi-experimental non-randomized design, including two waves of participant recruitment. Two waves of recruitment are used. In the first wave of recruitment, intervention and active control group are used and outcomes will be measured at three time points. In addition to quantitative data, qualitative observations and interviews are conducted to get a deeper understanding of the process of implementation of SWPIS. In the second wave of data recruitment, intervention and wait-list control group are used and outcomes will be measured at two time points (pre- and post).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 27, 2024
• First Posted: February 21, 2024
• Study Start: August 25, 2023
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2025
• Study Completion: December 31, 2025
• Last Updated: February 21, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-02

Locations

SE (1)