Fourth R: Skills for Youth Relationships

Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

Fourth R: Skills for Youth Relationships

OVERVIEW

The Fourth R is an interactive curriculum that integrates dating violence prevention with regular health classes in attempt to reduce physical dating violence (PDV). The curriculum is an adapted set of 21 lessons taught by teachers with additional training in violence prevention. The lessons focus on the dynamics of dating violence and healthy relationships. An experimental evaluation found that PDV was significantly greater in the control group as compared with the intervention group. Also, there was a significant sex-group interaction impact showing that the intervention effect was greater in boys than in girls.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target Population: Fourteen- to fifteen-year-old public school students (Grade 9)

The Fourth R curriculum is a comprehensive, school-based program that stresses the importance of healthy relationships. By increasing health-awareness education, the program aims to decrease dating violence. The program accomplishes this by using a combination of increased class time with more teacher training and materials. Dating violence prevention is integrated with core lessons about healthy relationships, sexual health, and substance use prevention using interactive exercises.

The Fourth R program is integrated into existing Health and Physical Education curriculum requirements. The 21-lesson curriculum is delivered by teachers with specialization in health and physical education. The curriculum contains 3 units containing seven 75-minute classes each: personal safety and injury prevention, healthy growth and sexuality, and substance use and abuse. Teachers were given additional training on dating violence and healthy relationships, parents were given informational packets, and students were involved in student-led “safe school committee.”

Costs apply to teacher training and intervention materials. As of July, 2011, the Grade 9 Physical & Health Education Comprehensive Kit cost $695.00, the Curriculum Kit cost $275.00 and the Education Lessons cost $175.00.

EVALUATION OF PROGRAM

Wolfe, D. A., Crooks, C., Jaffe, P., Chiodo, D., Hughes, R., Wllis, W., Stitt, L., &Donner, A. (2009) A school-based program to prevent adolescent dating violence: A cluster randomized trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 162, 692-699.

Evaluated population: Participants included 1722 students aged 14 to 15 from 20 Southwestern Ontario public schools. About 53 percent of the sample was female.

Approach: Eligible schools were stratified by size and location, then randomly assigned by strata to intervention or control by a coin toss. Data were collected 2.5 years after baseline to assess self-reported physical dating violence (PDV) levels. Secondary outcomes measured were physical peer violence, substance use, and condom use. Intervention schools used the 21-lesson-Fourth R curriculum class covering the dynamics of dating violence and healthy relationships. The control schools targeted similar objectives without training or materials.

Results: At follow up 2.5 years after baseline, the PDV levels were significantly higher for students in control schools than for those in intervention schools. Subgroup analyses revealed significant impacts of sex on outcomes: boys showed more of an impact than girls. Secondary outcomes did not show significant differences overall between groups. Once again an interaction showed a significant difference in condom use for sexually active boys but not for girls.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Program materials are available for purchase through Strategies for Healthy Youth Relationships http://youthrelationships.org/curriculum_resources/gr9_10_physical_health.html.

Contact Information

CAMH Centre for Prevention Science
100-100 Collip Circle
London, Ontario, Canada N6G 4X8
thefourthr@uwo.ca
519-585-5154

KEYWORDS: Adolescents, High School, Males and Females (Co-ed), Multiracial, School-based, Cost Information is Available, Conduct/Disruptive Disorders, Social Skills/Life Skills, Dating Violence, Aggression, Bullying

Program information last updated on 09/15/11