Second Step for Elementary School (2011 Edition)

This is a school program to prevent and reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children and adolescents by increasing their social and emotional skills.
The program’s elementary curriculum consists of 15 to 22 lessons lasting 35 minutes each, taught once or twice a week.
The content varies according to the grade level and is organized into three skill development units based on:
1) Empathy training;
2) Impulse control
3) Problem-solving; and
4) Anger management.
The high school curriculum consists of 8 to 15 lessons lasting 50 minutes each and covering the following topics: empathy and communication; bullying prevention; emotion management and coping; problem-solving, decision-making, and goal-setting; and substance use prevention.

Impact evaluations

An impact assessment showed that program participants had a statistically significant reduction in hyperactivity. However, there was no statistically significant effect on the reduction of conduct problems, problems with peers, or disruptive behavior, nor was there an improvement in social and emotional competence.

Bibliographic reference

[1] Low, S., Cook, C. R., Smolkowski, K. & Buntain-Ricklefs, J. (2015). Promoting social-emotional competence: An evaluation of the elementary version of Second Step®. Journal of School Psychology, 53(6), 463–477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.09.002

Information source

Crime Solutions