Effectiveness of violence prevention program on aggressive behaviors among preschool children

Abstract

Early childhood aggression is one of the strongest predictors of violence later in life, the earlier the application of intervention of violence prevention, the more reducing its occurrence later in life. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of violence prevention program on aggressive behaviors among preschool children. A quazi experimental design was used in this study. This study was conducted in Bader Kindergarten  at Assiut city. Two classrooms from  KG2 were chosen one for the interventional group and the other is control. The Revised Aggression Scale (RAS-K-2) was used to assess aggression in children included two subscales victim and perpetrator. The Second Step Violence Prevention Program™ third edition (2002) for Preschool Kindergarten curriculum designed to alleviate aggressive behaviors in the preschool children. Both interventional and control groups were matchable according  to personal data before implementation of the program. A statistically significant difference was found between interventional and control  groups with lower mean victim score in the posttest compared  to pretest (p = .005). While, no statistically significant difference was found between pre and post test in interventional and control  groups (p = .16 and 1.000, respectively). Second step violence prevention program, decreased victimization among interventional group. Perpetration had slightly decreased after implementation of the program with no statistically significant difference. Implementing enrichment programs for preschool children to prepare them socially for school world, thus increasing their chances of social success and decreasing aggression.