Good Behavior Game

This is a school program to help elementary school teachers reduce disruptive and aggressive behaviors in children, and create a positive and effective learning environment. The intervention is carried out through games, where the teacher creates teams with homogeneous characteristics and explains the rules.
During the game, the teacher observes the occurrence of behaviors agreed upon in the game, marking next to the team member’s name whenever one of these rules is broken. The teacher indicates the observed behavior in a neutral way, identifies the child who practiced it, and praises the other teams for behaving well. A team wins the game if the number of points does not exceed four at the end of the game period, and there can be more than one winner.
The winning team receives tangible rewards (stickers, drafts) and activities (extra recess, class privileges). In addition, the team that wins a game during the week receives a special reward on Friday, such as a party or an outdoor activity.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies have shown that students from first to eighth grades had fewer problems with teachers, aggression, propensity to be diagnosed with conduct disorder or to be suspended from school, need for mental health care, and attenuated risk of smoking [1] [2].
At the one-year follow-up after the intervention, the teachers used fewer negative comments and more positive ones, the children showed less talkative behavior and a decrease in oppositional behavior [3].
After the six-year follow-up period, there was a reduction in aggressive behavior in boys. After the 14-year follow-up period, there was a reduction in lifetime alcohol abuse and dependence, antisocial behavior, lifetime tobacco and illicit drug abuse among men, a higher prevalence of condom use throughout life, later onset of sexual life, and a lower prevalence of high-risk sexual behavior [4] [5]. Finally, treated cases also had reduced consumption of powder cocaine, crack cocaine, or heroin, as well as higher chances of graduating from high school and attending university [3].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Ialongo, N. S., Werthamer, L., Kellam, S. G., Brown, C. H., Wang, S. & Lin, Y. (1999). Proximal impact of two first-grade preventive interventions on the early risk behaviors for later substance abuse, depression, and antisocial behavior. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(5), 599–641. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022137920532

[2] Furr-Holden, C. D. M., Ialongo, N. S., Anthony, J. C., Petras, H. & Kellam, S. G. (2004). Developmentally inspired drug prevention: Middle school outcomes in a school-based randomized prevention trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 73(2), 149–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2003.10.002

[3] Leflot, G., van Lier, P. A. C., Onghena, P. & Colpin, H. (2010). The role of teacher behavior management in the development of disruptive behaviors: An intervention study with the good behavior game. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38(6), 869–882. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9411-4

[4] Kellam, S. G., Rebok, G. W., Ialongo, N. & Mayer, L. S. (1994). The course and malleability of aggressive behavior from early first grade into middle school: Results of a developmental epidemiologically-based preventive trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35(2), 259–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1994.tb01161.x

[5] Kellam, S. G., Brown, C. H., Poduska, J. M., Ialongo, N. S., Wang, W., Toyinbo, P., Petras, H., Ford, C., Windham, A. & Wilcox, H. C. (2008). Effects of a universal classroom behavior management program in first and second grades on young adult behavioral, psychiatric, and social outcomes. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 95(Suppl 1), S5-S28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2008.01.004

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