Early-Age Positive Behavioral Intervention at School: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Stefania Badiglio and Luciano Seta

This article offers a scoping review aimed at examining the characteristics of “universal positive behavioral interventions” addressed to pupils 3-12 years old in school settings. The studies were selected to highlight school-level and class-level targets for all students, without exclusion or inclusion criteria. The interventions were based on a prosocial perspective, aiming to promote positive change in the school climate and increase the frequency and quality of positive behaviours.

The purpose of this review is to analyze how these interventions are described in the literature and to identify some common features in their implementation that allow us to highlight positive factors and possible gaps. Due to the scarcity of work devoted to the 3-12 age group, the review aims to identify the main themes that could be the subject of further analysis. Consequently, the intent of the review is not to verify the effectiveness of these interventions, but to answer some guiding questions including the most prevalent approaches in “universal positive behavior interventions”, the types of behavioral problems addressed, implementation characteristics, and temporal and geographic variations in the uptake of such interventions. From the analysis carried out in this paper several considerations are derived that may be useful in both the preparation and description of behavioral interventions with similar targets.

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