Session: The Role of Climate in Intervention Research: How Student, Teacher and School Level Experiences Matter (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

This symposium aims to unpack the importance of “climate” in a novel way given its key role in behavioral targets of school-based interventions and adoption of such interventions (Fixsen et al., 2005). To better understand climate’s role, it is broken down into 3 levels (student, teacher, and whole school experience) and is assessed in the context of a translational trial of HealthWise (HW), an evidence-based substance use and sexual risk prevention intervention in 56 high schools in Cape Town, South Africa.

Paper 1 focuses on how students’ experience of a school’s sexual climate may impact the prevalence of sexual coercion within the school. A healthy sexual climate will generally promote positive sexual beliefs and norms, and discourage sexual aggression and harassment. Results suggest that student climate (students’ sexual aggressive behaviors and permissive attitudes) in grade 8 is associated with a greater prevalence of sexual coercion experienced within schools in grade 9. This suggests these factors produce a risky environment for students within such schools that may undermine programs targeting sexually risk behaviors.

Papers 2 and 3 focus on how teaching and general school climate interact with types of teacher support to influence program implementation quality.  Three top methods identified for supporting high-quality implementation are: support and supervision (SS), enhanced school environment (ESE), and enhanced training (ET).

Given the stressful context of most South African public schools, paper 2 focuses on teachers’ experience of their climate. Findings identified 2 aspects of teaching climate (feeling valued and job satisfaction) that moderate program implementation under SS/ESE conditions. Specifically, teachers who felt less valued implemented HW worse when they had the burden of 2 additional teacher support conditions as compared to those who felt valued or had less than 2 teacher support conditions. Conversely, teachers with high job satisfaction did worse when they received ESE alone relative to receiving both or neither additional teacher support condition.

Paper 3 focuses on school climate. Since apartheid in South Africa, many schools are severely under-resourced, over-crowded, and populated with inexperienced teachers, all of which can impede program implementation. Findings suggest that teachers and staff in schools characterized by young/less experienced teachers appear more likely to appreciate support whereas those with teachers less desiring of additional training and in more problematic school environments are less receptive.

At the conclusion, a discussant will reflect on and moderate a discussion of how school climate on multiple levels can be considered when designing and implementing school-based interventions.