Are Character Building Lessons Effective in Decreasing Bullying Behaviors?

February 4, 2009 updated by: Maimonides Medical Center

Is the Classroom Education Program Intervention Effective in Increasing Positive Self Esteem, Enhancing Leadership Behaviors, While Decreasing the Prevalence of Bullying Behaviors in Fifth Grade Elementary Students?

Through the use of an educational intervention, the object of this study is to reduce the prevalence of bullying behaviors among fifth grade school age children. Bullying behaviors promote an environment of violence , fear, and hostility. The study will arrange to present six character education lessons in the classroom of fifth grade students in a New York City public school. Questionnaires will be administered to the students before and after all the lessons have been completed. Questionnaires will collect information about the students self perception of their levels of misconduct, impulsivity, confidence, value of non violence, ways of handling anger, opinions of their leadership behaviors, prevalence of bullying behaviors, and indications of levels of self esteem. Also, their fifth grade teachers will complete pre and post treatment student behavioral questionnaires.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Aggression

Intervention / Treatment

Behavioral: Six classroom based character building education lessons

Detailed Description

This is a 2 X 2X 2 research design that will study the constructs of self esteem, leadership skills, and prevalence of bullying among a fifth grade school age population. Before data collection, a letter describing the study along with an informed consent sheet, will be mailed to the student's parent/guardian. The written material will state that their child participation is not mandatory. A 48 item likert style questionnaire pre-treatment, post-treatment survey design will be administered to students. Basic demographic questions will also be asked about.

All fifth graders will be given questionnaires before they receive the six classroom lessons of 45 minutes duration and then after all the six lessons have been completed. Lessons will be offered on a weekly basis. The fifth graders will be divided into small groups of approximately 10 individuals. The lessons will be delivered by baccalaureate nursing students in their last semester of college. The groups will be formed at the beginning and membership will remain consistent to enhance development of trust and ease of authentic communication. The lessons will be selected from the program, Overcoming Obstacles, a formal educational program designed to assist students to communicate well and set meaningful goals for their lives. In addition, the classroom teachers will be asked to complete a 14 item likert style pre-treatment, post-treatment, both before and after the six lessons about their opinions of each student's behaviors pattern.

A statistician is a co-investigator and will identify the type of statistical analysis to be done.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

175

Phase

Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

United States
- New York
  - Staten Island, New York, United States, 10310
    - PS 45

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

9 years to 13 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Fifth grade elementary school students

Exclusion Criteria:

Special education students

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Allocation: Non-Randomized
Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Questionnaires Time Frame: Complete	Complete

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Maimonides Medical Center

Investigators

Principal Investigator: Margaret M Governo, EdD, APRN, Coney Island Hospital / Wagner College

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 2, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria