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Abstract
The present study reports a high-quality evaluation of the ViSC Social Competence Program, which was implemented large scale in Austria. A rigorous test of program effectiveness has been performed to investigate the dynamic change of aggressive behavior and victimization and to ensure a high level of statistical conclusion validity. A cluster randomized control study was applied to examine program effectiveness regarding aggressive behavior and victimization. In sum, 1,377 adolescents (48.5% girls, Mage = 11.7) enrolled in 13 schools participated in the program; 665 adolescents (45.2% girls, Mage = 11.6) enrolled in 5 schools were in the control group. Data were collected with Internet-based questionnaires at pre- and posttest with several validated scales to capture the full range of the two constructs. To ensure construct validity, a series of invariance tests of the second-order factor models were performed. To test program effectiveness, a multiple group bivariate latent change score model was applied. Evidence for a dynamic change of aggressive behavior and victimization was found. As predicted, the pretest levels and the change scores of aggressive behavior and victimization were associated. Moreover, higher levels of pretest values predicted more change. The program was effective in reducing victimization but not aggressive behavior. Gender did not moderate the results. Results are important for national rollout and cross-national dissemination of the program. However, further research is needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the intervention effects.
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to the whole ViSC project team consisting of Eva-Maria Schiller, Elisabeth Stefanek, Petra Gradinger, Christoph Burger, Bianca Pollhammer, Katharina Derndarsky, Marie Therese Schultes and Christine Hoffmann for their invaluable work during the intervention study. We also want to thank the ViSC coaches and teachers who implemented the program in the schools and classes. We thank all schools and students who participated in this study. Special thanks to Alexander Robitzsch from the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) for his advice and helpful comments concerning the multiple imputation of missing data.
Funding
The implementation and evaluation of the ViSC program was funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Cultural Affairs (PI: Christiane Spiel) between 2008 and 2011. The data analyses and writing of the present study was funded by the Platform for Intercultural Competences, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (PI: Dagmar Strohmeier) between 2012 and 2015.