Parent Training for Disruptive Behaviors in Referred Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether face-to-face and therapist-assisted online (i.e., blended) behavioral parent training are effective on reducing disruptive behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in routine mental health care. Ninety-seven children with ASD (4-13 years; 76 boys) were randomized to face-to-face parent training, blended parent training, or a waitlist control condition. We assessed treatment effects on parent-rated child noncompliance (primary outcome) and irritability (secondary outcome). This involved comparing both formats separately to the control condition using linear regression models. Child behaviors at 6 months follow-up were also examined. Children in the face-to-face parent training condition improved significantly more on noncompliance and irritability than children in the waitlist condition and improvements sustained to 6 months follow-up. Children in the blended condition did not improve more than children in the waitlist condition and attrition was high. Our results extend findings from efficacy studies to routine mental health care and advocate the use of face-to-face parent training for disruptive behaviors in children with ASD. More research into blended parent training programs for children with ASD and disruptive behaviors in routine mental health care should be conducted to draw more definite conclusions about the value of blended parent training for these children. Trial registration number NL4712; date of registration 22-10-2014.

Are Children Following High Trajectories of Disruptive Behaviors in Early Childhood More or Less Likely to Follow Concurrent High Trajectories of Internalizing Problems?

The developmental association between disruptive behaviors (DBs: hyperactivity-impulsivity, non-compliance, physical aggression) and internalizing problems in early childhood is not well understood and has generated competing hypotheses and mixed results. Using a person-centered strategy, the present study aimed to examine concurrent trajectories of DBs and trajectories of internalizing problems from age 1.5 to 5 years in a population-representative sample (N = 2057; 50.7% boys). Six trajectories of DBs and three trajectories of internalizing problems, based on parent reports and obtained via latent growth modeling across five periods of assessment, were used as longitudinal indicators of each type of behaviors. Children following low or moderate trajectories served as the reference class. Compared to children in the reference class, those in trajectory classes characterized by high levels of co-occurring DBs (OR = 6.60) and, to a lesser extent, those in single high DB classes (OR = 2.78) were more likely to follow a high trajectory of internalizing problems simultaneously. These results support a multiple problem hypothesis regarding the association between DBs and internalizing problems, consistent with a developmental perspective that includes a general factor underpinning different psychopathologies. These findings highlight the importance of considering the co-occurrence between DBs and internalizing problems when studying either construct in children.

COMT Val/Met, stressful life events and externalizing behaviors in youth: A longitudinal study from the ABCD sample.

Early adolescence is a crucial time for understanding and detecting the risk factors that may influence youth externalizing/disruptive behaviors and disorders. Previous literature reported evidence that risk factors for disruptive behaviors include catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met (rs4680) polymorphism and environmental influences. An unanswered question is whether there is a change in these risk factors over stages of youth development. This longitudinal study examines the interaction effect of Val158Met and stressful life events (SLE) on youth externalizing behaviors from ages 9-11. Participants were 2363 children of European ancestry recruited as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. Repeated measures linear mixed models were used to examine the effect of the interaction between Val158Met and SLE (G × E) on disruptive behaviors over development. Externalizing behaviors were analyzed at both baseline and two-year follow-up. Both Val158Met genotype and SLE scores demonstrated significant main effects on disruptive behaviors in youth, and those effects were consistent at both time points. G × E was not associated with externalizing behaviors. Youth who carried the Val allele and/or were exposed to higher SLE consistently had increased externalizing behavior scores. To our knowledge, this is the first study to longitudinally examine the interaction effects of Val158Met and SLE on externalizing behaviors in youth. The results highlight the importance of understanding the genetic and environmental factors underlying externalizing behaviors for better detection of at-risk youth, helping further with early prevention efforts. The findings propose that COMT Val158Met genotype may act as a biomarker for development of novel treatment strategies for disruptive behaviors.

Addressing disruptive behaviors within naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Clinical decision-making, intervention outcomes, and implications for practice.

LAY ABSTRACT: Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions are a common and well-researched type of intervention for young autistic children that focus on supporting social communication. These interventions often do not include formal guidelines on how to address disruptive behaviors, even though they are common among autistic children. This study measured how often clinicians delivering a specific naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention, Project ImPACT, adapted how they delivered the program to address disruptive behavior, and how these adaptations related to children's social communication outcomes at the end of their participation in the intervention. We also spoke with clinicians about how they address disruptive behavior and emotion regulation during their sessions. In this study, clinicians adapted Project ImPACT to address disruptive behaviors in about one-third of all sessions. These adaptations did not affect children's social communication outcomes. Clinicians discussed how they felt social communication, disruptive behavior, and emotion regulation are linked to one another and that they often try to integrate intervention strategies to address each of these areas. However, they note that a clinicians' approach to addressing disruptive behavior might vary depending on their level of training and experience. These results indicate several future directions for supporting clinicians in addressing behavior and regulation effectively within these types of interventions.

How class cohesion and teachers' relatedness supportive/thwarting style relate to students' relatedness, motivation, and positive and negative outcomes in physical education.

The main goal of this study was to examine the links between class cohesion and teachers' relatedness teaching style with students' relatedness needs, motivation, and positive and negative outcomes in Physical Education. A total of 1294 students 10-18 years old (M = 14.40, SD = 1.99), 613 males (M = 14.48, SD = 1.95) and 681 females (M = 14.33, SD = 2.02), agreed to participate. They were enrolled in 88 classes belonging to 13 different primary and secondary schools in southwestern Spain. The study followed a correlational research design. Results of the multilevel path model showed a positive relationship between teachers' relatedness support and class cohesion and behavioral and emotional engagement through relatedness need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation. Results also showed a positive relationship between teachers' relatedness thwarting and disruptive behaviors and problematic relationships through relatedness need frustration and amotivation. In conclusion, teachers' relatedness behaviors and class cohesion can significantly impact the students' relatedness and motivation, which in turn will affect their engagement and behaviors. A whole cascade of consequences begins with the way teachers teach and the cohesion generated in class. These first steps cannot be overlooked.

PISTACHIo (PreemptIon of diSrupTive behAvior in CHIldren): real-time monitoring of sleep and behavior of children 3-7 years old receiving parent-child interaction therapy augment with artificial intelligence - the study protocol, pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Emotional behavior problems (EBP) are the most common and persistent mental health issues in early childhood. Early intervention programs are crucial in helping children with EBP. Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based therapy designed to address personal difficulties of parent-child dyads as well as reduce externalizing behaviors. In clinical practice, parents consistently struggle to provide accurate characterizations of EBP symptoms (number, timing of tantrums, precipitating events) even from the week before in their young children. The main aim of the study is to evaluate feasibility of the use of smartwatches in children aged 3-7 years with EBP. METHODS: This randomized double-blind controlled study aims to recruit a total of 100 participants, consisting of 50 children aged 3-7 years with an EBP measure rated above the clinically significant range (T-score ≥ 60) (Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory-ECBI; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999) and their parents who are at least 18 years old. Participants are randomly assigned to the artificial intelligence-PCIT group (AI-PCIT) or the PCIT-sham biometric group. Outcome parameters include weekly ECBI and Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) as well as Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) obtained weeks 1, 6, and 12 of the study. Two smartphone applications (Garmin connect and mEMA) and a wearable Garmin smartwatch are used collect the data to monitor step count, sleep, heart rate, and activity intensity. In the AI-PCIT group, the mEMA application will allow for the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and will send behavioral alerts to the parent. DISCUSSION: Real-time predictive technologies to engage patients rely on daily commitment on behalf of the participant and recurrent frequent smartphone notifications. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) provides a way to digitally phenotype in-the-moment behavior and functioning of the parent-child dyad. One of the study's goals is to determine if AI-PCIT outcomes are superior in comparison with standard PCIT. Overall, we believe that the PISTACHIo study will also be able to determine tolerability of smartwatches in children aged 3-7 with EBP and could participate in a fundamental shift from the traditional way of assessing and treating EBP to a more individualized treatment plan based on real-time information about the child's behavior. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The ongoing clinical trial study protocol conforms to the international Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines and is registered in clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT05077722), an international clinical trial registry.

Experiencing and witnessing disruptive behaviors toward nurses in COVID-19 teams, patient safety, and errors in care.

BACKGROUND: Nurse managers and team co-workers' disruptive behaviors (DBs) are negatively associated with a perceived safe climate. Moreover, DBs are a risk factor for patients' safety. Yet, it remains unknown whether and to what extent these effects were prevalent in COVID-19 wards and among witnesses of DBs. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed on social networks and completed by nurses in various Israeli healthcare organizations using snowball sampling between October and December 2021. The questionnaire included seven previously published measures and a question checking whether the participants had worked in a COVID-19 ward. The minimal sample size for any analysis was 236. Hypotheses were tested with correlations and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: DBs of nurse managers and team co-workers toward nurses were higher in COVID-19 teams. As hypothesized, DBs were negatively correlated with a safe climate and positively with patient safety (fewer errors). The data were consistent with a model suggesting that a safe climate is related to fewer DBs and DBs largely mediate the effects of safe climate on errors. Surprisingly and importantly, the strongest predictor of errors, including preventable mortality, is witnessing DBs and not being a victim of DBs. CONCLUSIONS: DBs may impede open communication and collaboration among co-workers, particularly in COVID-19 teams. This study shows the links between nurse shaping of a safe climate, DBs toward nurses, and patient safety. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Nurse managers who create a safe climate and show zero tolerance for DBs could reduce the risk of errors in care.

Transactional associations between vocabulary and disruptive behaviors during the transition to formal schooling.

This study investigated the transactional relations between vocabulary and disruptive behaviors (DB; physical aggression and opposition/rule breaking/theft and vandalism), during the transition to formal schooling, using a community sample of 572 children. Cross-lagged panel model analyses were used to examine bidirectional relationships, comparing physical aggression to non-aggressive DB. Transactional associations between vocabulary and DB were observed, coinciding with school entry. Lower vocabulary in preschool (60mo.) was predictive of higher physical aggression scores in kindergarten. In turn, higher physical aggression in kindergarten was predictive of lower vocabulary in 1st grade. For non-aggressive DB, recurrent associations were found. Lower verbal skills in preschool (42mo.) and kindergarten predicted higher non-aggressive DB scores later in preschool and in 1st grade respectively. In turn, higher non-aggressive DB in kindergarten predicted lower vocabulary scores in 1st grade. In contrast to transactional paths from vocabulary to DB, transactional paths from DB to vocabulary observed after the transition to elementary school remained significant after controlling for comorbid hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention behaviors, suggesting these links were specific to aggressive and non-aggressive DB. Practical implications for prevention are discussed.

Suubi4StrongerFamilies: A study protocol for a clustered randomized clinical trial addressing child behavioral health by strengthening financial stability and parenting among families in Uganda.

Background: Children in Sub-Saharan Africa are burdened by significant unmet mental health needs. Across the region, high rates of poverty, HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, stigma, and an inadequate health safety net system exacerbate serious child behavioral health needs and impede an effective response. Disruptive behavioral disorders are particularly concerning as they persist through adolescence and adulthood. Hence, addressing the context-specific social influences on child behavioral health is critical given that children in the region comprise more than half of the total regional population. Against this backdrop, this study protocol describes a randomized clinical trial that will examine the mechanisms by which economic empowerment and family strengthening interventions targeting social, familial, and context-specific drivers affect the mental health of children in Uganda. Methods: The study uses an experimental, longitudinal design across 30 cluster-randomized primary schools to compare single and combination intervention options; influences of economic empowerment and family strengthening on economic, perceptual, and functioning mediators; and context-specific moderators. The study will be conducted with 900 Ugandan children in mid-upper primary school (10-14 years). The three study conditions (n = 300 each) are: (1) economic empowerment only (EE only), (2) multiple family group-based family strengthening only (MFG-based FS only), and (3) combined EE + MFG-based FS. The interventions will be provided for 12 months; and assessments will occur at baseline, 12, 24, and 36 months. Conclusion: Children in Sub-Saharan Africa are burdened by significant unmet mental health needs, including disruptive behavior disorders that persist through adolescence and adulthood if left untreated. The proposed study will examine the mechanisms by which economic empowerment and family strengthening interventions targeting social, familial and context-specific drivers affect the mental health of children in mid-upper primary schools in Uganda. Findings from this study can inform group, community, and population approaches that are needed for scalable solutions to address the social drivers negatively impacting child behavioral health in low-resource settings, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical trial registration: [https://clinicaltrials.gov/], identifier [NCT053 68714].

Community-based Agency Delivery of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Comparing Outcomes for Children with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Developmental Delays.

While externalizing behaviors are common among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a shortage of specialist community-based clinicians to provide treatment. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an intervention designed to reduce child disruptive behaviors, may be effective for families of children with ASD but has rarely been studied outside of university-based research settings. We examined the effectiveness of PCIT delivered for children with (N = 109) and without (N = 2,324) ASD/developmental delays (DD) across community-based agencies in Oregon. Findings revealed significant reductions in disruptive behavior and positive changes in the parent-child relationship in both groups. These findings support PCIT as an efficacious intervention for children with ASD/DD and demonstrate PCIT's promise in community-based agencies with non-specialized clinicians.

Outcomes Accountability Systems for Early Childhood Disruptive Behaviors: A Scoping Review of Availability.

Early childhood disruptive behaviors are common mental health problems among American youth, and if poorly-managed, pose costly psychological and societal burdens. Outcomes accountability systems in clinical practice are vital opportunities to optimize early intervention for common mental health problems; however, such systems seem rare. A scoping review was conducted to summarize the current availability of outcomes accountability systems in clinical programs addressing early childhood disruptive behaviors, particularly in the US. We used PsycINFO to identify peer-reviewed literature published in English from 2005 to 2021, from which we selected 23 publications from the US, UK, and Netherlands on outcomes accountability systems within clinical programs treating common childhood mental health problems. Only 3 out of 23 publications described outcomes accountability efforts specifically for early childhood problems. Within the 3 studies, only one UK-based study specifically targeted early childhood disruptive behaviors. We did not find publications specifically describing outcomes accountability efforts in US-based clinical programs to treat early childhood disruptive behaviors. There are multi-level challenges preventing changes to the prevalent US model of paying a fee for each unit of child mental healthcare, with little regard for patient outcomes. However, opportunities exist to improve US-based accountability efforts; from top-down expansion of financial incentives, accountability initiatives, and PDT evidence-based practices to an iterative, bottom-up development of meaningful outcomes measurement by providers. Greater adoption of outcomes monitoring in US clinical practice for common mental health problems can optimize management of early childhood disruptive behaviors and mitigate long-term societal and economic burdens.

Early Childhood between a Rock and a Hard Place: Early Childhood Education and Students' Disruption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan.

Looking through the lens of ecological system theory, this paper used a mixed-method approach, based on 20 interviews and 208 Early Childhood Education (ECE) teacher questionnaires, to elaborate the position of ECE in Pakistan. The study indicates that ECE is between a rock and a hard place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The findings further show that ECE is provided by less qualified and inexperienced teachers, who give less attention to the physical and psychological needs of the students. The classrooms are overcrowded and lack relevant teaching-learning materials. Moreover, the single-teacher policy and overcrowded classrooms hinder students' motivation, the delivery of quality education and the development of good behaviors. These challenges are also the main causes of students' dropouts. This paper increases people's understanding of ECE and its challenges in Pakistan. For ECE development, the paper recommends separating ECE from primary schools and giving it a budget to purchase adequate and relevant resources.

Violence, runaway, and suicide attempts among people living with schizophrenia in China: Prevalence and correlates.

BACKGROUND: People living with schizophrenia are at higher risk of disruptive behaviors, including violence, running away from home, and suicide attempts, which often co-occur and are highly correlated, yet seldom studied together. The current study investigated the frequency and correlates of disruptive behaviors among a Chinese community sample of individuals living with schizophrenia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 individuals living with schizophrenia from 12 communities. Data about disruptive behaviors in the past 2 months was collected using self-designed questionnaires. Clinical characteristics including psychiatric symptoms, depression, anxiety, disability, and functioning were collected by internationally standardized assessment instruments. RESULTS: About one-fifth (21%) of the subjects had experienced at least one form of disruptive behavior in the past 2 months. Violence was the most commonly reported (17.25%), which included damaging property (15%) and physical violence toward others (7.5%); followed by running away (6.5%), and suicide attempts (4%). Logistic regression analysis suggested that medication non-adherence (OR = 4.96, 95% CI [1.79-13.72]), involuntary hospital admission (OR = 5.35, 95% CI [2.06-13.87]), depression (OR = 2.34, 95% CI [1.07-5.10]), and lower social functioning (OR = 0.97, 95% CI [0.93-0.99]) were independently associated with a higher risk of disruptive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The overlap among three forms of disruptive behaviors warrants them to be assessed and studied together in clinical, research, and policy fields. The significant association between disruptive behaviors with medication non-adherence, involuntary admission, depression, and lower social functioning indicates the need for integrated, targeted, and needs-based intervention programs to be developed for the prevention and treatment of these disruptive behaviors.

Vocally disruptive behavior: A case report and literature review.

Vocally disruptive behavior (VDB) is a common and particularly difficult symptom to manage in dementia. VDB is usually considered collectively with agitation and aggression as a component of behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia and is therefore poorly understood as an individual symptom. A review of the literature is described where VDB as a challenging behavior has been individually examined as a symptom. A case of VDB occurring in patient with dementia is described where the patient's repetitive vocalizations responded to treatment with pregabalin. This has not been previously reported in the literature. The prevalence of VDB, the factors associated with it and the current management guidelines for clinicians are outlined with a review of the drug treatment strategies for VDB. Pregabalin with its unique pharmacological profile and excellent tolerability should be considered as a possible treatment for VDB where drug treatment is indicated.

Early-Life Environmental and Child Factors Associated with the Presence of Disruptive Behaviors in Seven-Year-Old Children with Autistic Traits in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

We studied the association of early-life environmental and child factors with disruptive behaviors in children with autistic traits around age 7, in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 6,401). Logistic regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator indicated that disruptive behaviors were associated with prenatal smoking, no seafood-consumption during pregnancy, breech presentation at delivery, neonatal feeding problems, low social-economic situation, suboptimal preschool family environment, maternal depression, maternal antisocial behavior, male sex, and difficult child temperament. Compared to controls, male sex, maternal depression, and suboptimal preschool family environment were related to autistic traits without disruptive behaviors. Thus, there may be a difference in early-life factors related to autism spectrum disorder with and without disruptive behaviors.

Adjunctive Parental Support Within Manualized Parent Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Parent training is a central focus of behavioral intervention, with emphasis on teaching parents to become change agents for their children by using behavioral management skills. However, its effectiveness is limited by a parent's ability to engage in the learning process. Parents managing external stressors, psychopathology, or poverty often do not gain the skills and thus, the treatment may minimally impacts parent and child behavior. In order to increase a parent's ability to acquire and implement new skills accurately, referred to as parent treatment integrity, the current study added a parent-support component to the RUBI Autism Network's Parent Training for Disruptive Behaviors protocol. The parent-support component was intended to remove barriers to skill acquisition during the parent training session by alleviating some of the interfering parental stress. In an alternating treatments design, a community-based sample of five parent-child dyads (average age of child = 32 months) participated in the parent-training protocol; half of the intervention sessions included a 15-min parent-support component. The addition of the parent-support component increased parent engagement, treatment integrity, and learned parenting skills, like parent praise. Results support a model of change for parenting behavior. Inclusion of a parent-support component is supported as an effective practice for parent training.

The pattern of cortical thickness underlying disruptive behaviors in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Disruptive behaviors, including agitation, disinhibition, irritability, and aberrant motor behaviors, are commonly observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the neuroanatomical basis of these disruptive behaviors is not fully understood. Objective: To confirm the differences in cortical thickness and surface area between AD patients and healthy controls and to further investigate the features of cortical thickness and surface area associated with disruptive behaviors in patients with AD. Methods: One hundred seventy-four participants (125 AD patients and 49 healthy controls) were recruited from memory clinics at the Peking University Institute of Sixth Hospital. Disruptive behaviors, including agitation/aggression, disinhibition, irritability/lability, and aberrant motor activity subdomain scores, were evaluated using the Neuropsychiatry Inventory. Both whole-brain vertex-based and region-of-interest-based cortical thickness and surface area analyses were automatically conducted with the CIVET pipeline based on structural magnetic resonance images. Both group-based statistical comparisons and brain-behavior association analyses were performed using general linear models, with age, sex, and education level as covariables. Results: Compared with healthy controls, the AD patients exhibited widespread reduced cortical thickness, with the most significant thinning located in the medial and lateral temporal and parietal cortex, and smaller surface areas in the left fusiform and left inferior temporal gyrus. High total scores of disruptive behaviors were significantly associated with cortical thinning in several regions that are involved in sensorimotor processing, language, and expression functions. The total score of disruptive behaviors did not show significant associations with surface areas. Conclusion: We highlight that disruptive behaviors in patients with AD are selectively associated with cortical thickness abnormalities in sensory, motor, and language regions, which provides insights into neuroanatomical substrates underlying disruptive behaviors. These findings could lead to sensory, motor, and communication interventions for alleviating disruptive behaviors in patients with AD.

Using Parent Target Problem Narratives to Evaluate Outcomes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This paper examines the reliability and validity of parent target problems (PTPs) in a multi-site randomized controlled trial of parent training (PT) versus psychoeducation (PEP) in children (150 boys, 19 girls; mean age 4.7 ± 1.2 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and disruptive behavior. At baseline, treatment blind, independent evaluators asked parents to nominate the child's top two problems. Each problem was documented in a brief narrative. Narratives were reviewed and revised at follow-up visits during the six-month trial. When the trial was completed, five judges, blind to treatment condition, independently rated change from baseline on a 9-point scale (1 = normal; 2 = markedly improved; 3 = definitely improved; 4 = equivocally improved; 5 = no change; 6 = possibly worse; 7 = definitely worse; 8 = markedly worse; 9 = disastrously worse) at Weeks 8, 12, 16, and 24 (inter-rater intraclass correlation = 0.78). PTP scores for the two target problems were averaged across the five raters, yielding a mean score for each child at each time point. Mean PTP scores showed improvement in both treatment groups over the 24-week study. Compared to PEP, PTP ratings showed a steeper decline in PT based on significant interaction of group and time (t(df) = 2.14(155.9), p = 0.034; Week 24 effect size = 0.75). In categorical analysis, we compared cutoffs mean PTP scores of 3.0 (definitely improved), 3.25, and 3.5 with the positive response rate on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale from the original study. Sensitivities ranged from 52-78%. PTP narratives offer a systematic, reliable, and valid way to track child-specific outcomes in clinical trials and clinical practice.

Teaching Socio-Emotional Competencies Among Primary School Students: Improving Conflict Resolution and Promoting Democratic Co-existence in Schools.

Teaching socio-emotional skills among primary school students is the key to creating a climate of cooperation in classrooms and reducing disruptive or aggressive behaviors among students. The primary goal of this research is to present an educational proposal for imparting socio-emotional competencies among primary school students. We attempt to impart socio-emotional competencies based on: (1) fostering self-knowledge, self-esteem, and respect for others among students; (2) developing behaviors that allow them to perceive and express feelings and self-regulating emotions; and (3) developing assertive communication skills aimed at improving conflict resolution. This program has been designed in such a way that it is implemented throughout the academic year by organizing bi-monthly sessions of 45 min each, held until the completion of 15 sessions. The sample consists of 100 students in the third grade, with the control and experimental groups having an equal number of students (50 each). The instruments used for this research are: (a) BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (Youth Version [BarOn EQ-i:YV]): used for measuring emotional and social functioning; (b) the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY): used for assessing social skills; and (c) Questionnaire for the Assessment of School Violence in Preschool and Primary School Questionnaire. To check the effectiveness of the educational intervention, a quasi-experimental design, along with pretest-posttest control group design, is used in accordance with the general linear model. Its effectiveness is also checked using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results show that the program is useful in preventing violent behaviors in the educational field and promoting the development of socio-emotional skills among third grade students. Finally, the applicability of the program to other educational contexts is discussed to enhance students' personal development and decrease the levels of violence found in primary school.