A Multimedia Violence Prevention Program Increases Pediatric Residents’ and Childcare Providers’ Knowledge About Responding to Childhood Aggression

Abstract

A pre-post knowledge test using alternate forms was used to determine if a multimedia violence prevention program can increase knowledge about management of childhood aggression. The participants were pediatric residents and childcare workers who attended lectures about aggression management in young children. The intervention was a presentation of a 30 minute CD-ROM program, Play Nicely, which teaches how to manage aggression in young children ages 1 to 7 years. A pretest and posttest multiple-choice knowledge assessment that focused on the program’s most important recommendations was administered. Childcare workers and pediatric residents had significantly increased knowledge scores after viewing the CD-ROM demonstration (F=6.8, p = 0.01). Childcare workers’ scores improved by 2.6 points (p< 0.001) and residents’ scores by 3.8 points (p< 0.001). A relatively short CD-ROM can improve knowledge about how to manage aggression in young children, indicating its usefulness as a violence prevention resource.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Best practices of youth violence prevention . A sourcebook for community action. Atlanta: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000.

Tremblay RE , Boivin M , Zoccolillo M , Montplaisir J . The search for the age of ‘onset’ of physical aggression: Rousseau and Bandura revisited. Crim Behav Mental Health. 1999;9:8-23.

Olweus D . Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: A review. Psychol Bull. 1979;86:852-875.

Moffitt T , Caspi A , Dickson N , et al. Childhood-onset versus adolescent-onset antisocial; conduct problems in males: Natural history from ages 3 to 18 years. Dev Psychopathol. 1996;97:399-424.

Brennan P , Hall J , Bor W , et al. Integrating biological and social processes in relation to early-onset and persistent aggression in boys and girls. Dev Psychol. 2003;39:309-323.

Tremblay RE . Prevention of injury by early socialization of aggressive behavior. Injury Prevent. 2002;8(Suppl 4):IV:17-21.

Montgomery P. EBM Reviews-Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Media-based behavioural treatments for behavioural disorders in children. Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group. Coch Database Syst Rev. 2001;2.

Scholer S , Beals C . Play Nicely CD ROM: Recommendations for managing aggression in young children. Vanderbilt University, 2001. Available at http://www.playnicely.org/.

Scholer SJ , Goad S . Feedback on a multimedia violence prevention program. Clin Pediatr. 2003;42:789-796.

10.

Bredekamp S , Copple C (eds). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, revised edition. Washington, DC: NAEYC, 1997, pp. 19-169.

11.

Accreditation Criteria & Procedures of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998 Edition. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Washington, DC: NAEYC, 1998, pp. 19-68.

12.

The role of the pediatrician in youth violence prevention in clinical practice and at the community level. American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Violence. Pediatrics. 1999:103.

13.

Raising children to resist violence . American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychological Association, 1995. Available at: http://www.apa.org/pi/pii/raisingchildren.html. Accessed December 9, 2003.

14.

Media violence . American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Communications. Pediatrics. 1995;95:949-951.

15.

Levin D . Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture. Washington DC: NAEYC, 1998, pp. 1-190.

16.

Helping Children Learn Self-control. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Washington DC: NAEYC, 1998.

17.

American Academy of Pediatrics , Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health . Guidelines for effective discipline. Pediatrics. 1998;101:723-728.

18.

Webster-Stratton C . Intervention approaches to conduct disorders in young children. 1983;8(5):23-24, 29, 33-34.

19.

Blueprints for Violence Prevention . Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) . University of Colorado at Boulder. Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blue-prints/. Accessed September 27, 2002.