@article{ref1,
title="The role of children's on-task behavior in the prevention of aggressive behavior development and peer rejection: A randomized controlled study of the Good Behavior Game in Belgian elementary classrooms",
journal="Journal of school psychology",
year="2013",
author="Leflot, Geertje and van Lier, Pol A. C. and Onghena, Patrick and Colpin, Hilde",
volume="51",
number="2",
pages="187-199",
abstract="The role of children's on-task behavior in the prevention of aggressive behavior was assessed among 570 Dutch speaking children followed from second- to third-grade elementary school in Flanders, Belgium. A first objective was to investigate whether individual level variation of on-task behavior moderated the impact of a universal preventive intervention, the Good Behavior Game (GBG), on aggression development, controlling for classroom levels of on-task behavior. The second goal was to study whether improved on-task behavior or reductions in peer rejection mediated intervention impact on children's aggression. Second-grade classrooms were randomly assigned to the GBG or a control condition. Results showed that intervention impact was found only among children who had low-level on-task behavior at baseline. These children showed a decrease in aggression when in the GBG condition, which was not found among control group children. The reduction in aggression among low on-task children was mediated by reductions in peer rejection. No mediation effect of on-task behavior was found. These results suggest that the effect of a universal preventive intervention may depend upon initial levels of on-task behavior and that improvements in social relations with peers may explain the reductions in aggression among these low-on task children.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-4405",
doi="10.1016/j.jsp.2012.12.006",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.12.006"
}