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Title: Effectiveness of the Roots of Empathy Program: A Summary of Five Years of Research


1
Effectiveness of the Roots of Empathy Program
A Summary of Five Years of Research
  • Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl
  • University of British Columbia
  • Veronica Smith
  • University of Alberta
  • Denise Buote, Angela Jaramillo, Clyde Hertzman
  • University of British Columbia

HELP 2007 Seminar Series, Simon Fraser
University November 29, 2007
2
Creating a more caring, peaceful, and civic
society a classroom at a time Mary Gordon
3
Focus of the Discussion
What is the Roots of Empathy Program?
  • BACKGROUND
  • The importance of promoting childrens social and
    emotional competence.
  • The need for evidence-based practice.

4
Take Home Messages
  • There is an inextricable link between childrens
    social and emotional competence and their school
    and life success.
  • There is a growing research literature
    demonstrating that social and emotional
    competence can be fostered in childhood and
    adolescence.
  • There is a need for evidence-based programs that
    can foster childrens social and emotional
    understanding and development.

5
Guided by Research
  • Rigorous science provides an essential
    foundation for effective policies and practices.

6
Practice Informing Developmental Theory
  • . . . if the developmental course is altered as
    a result of the implementation of preventive
    interventions and the risk for negative outcomes
    is reduced, then prevention research has
    contributed to specifying the processes that are
    involved in the emergence of maladaptive
    developmental outcomes and psychopathology
    (Cicchetti Hinshaw, 2002, p. 667).

7
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8
  • . . . emotional literacy is as vital as any
    other skill, and is particularly central to
    childrens ability to interact and form
    relationships.
  • Susanne Denham
  • Social and Emotional Prevention and Intervention
    Programming for Preschoolers, 2003

9
  • The developmental mechanism that is used most
    frequently to explain age-related increases in
    altruistic behavior is the increasing ability of
    the child to take the point of view of the other
    person.

10
  • Promoting Childrens Social and Emotional
    Competence
  • The Need for Evidence-Based Practice

11
The Need for Research Examining Efficacy of
Prevention Programs
  • There is a growing awareness of the importance of
    evidence-based practices in schools.
  • Limited research exists that has examined the
    effectiveness of school-based programs (CASEL,
    2002).
  • Of those evaluations that exist, many have been
    limited in scope and fraught with methodological
    shortcomings (Durlak Wells, 1997).
  • Not informed by developmental theory.
  • Absence of experimental design (e.g., control
    group).
  • Utilize outcome measures of questionable
    reliability and validity.

12
The Need for Research . . .
  • Very few programs exist that focus specifically
    on the development of childrens emotions -- a
    factor identified as important for reducing
    aggression and promoting prosocial behaviors
    (Arsenio Lemerise, 2001 Izard, 2002).
  • There is a need for evaluations of programs that
    are routine practice programs that is those
    programs that exist in the school on an ongoing
    basis (Wilson, Lipsey, Derzon, 2003).
  • We need to understand what conditions are
    necessary for interventions to maintain their
    effectiveness in broader applications (SPR News,
    May 14, 2004).
  • Community contexts
  • Implementation quality

13
Can an Infant be a Catalyst for Change? The
Roots of Empathy Program
14
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15
Roots of Empathy
  • A universal primary preventive classroom-based
    social emotional competence promotion program
    created by Mary Gordon.
  • Cornerstone of the program is a class visit by an
    infant, his/her caregiver(s), and an instructor
    over 9 months.
  • In lessons children learn about the babys growth
    and development via interactions and observations
    with the baby.

16
Fosters Student Engagement
17
Connects Classrooms to Communities
18
Engages Students in Learning
19
Creates Community in the Classroom
20
ROE in Canada and Beyond
  • Piloted in Toronto in 2 classrooms in 1996.
  • Last school year, 45,000 children in 1,800
    classrooms across 9 provinces in Canada received
    the ROE program.
  • By June 2006, 113,000 children in total received
    the program.
  • Piloted in Japan, Australia, New Zealand.

21
ROE Program Goals
  • Overall, the ROE program is designed
  • To foster the development of childrens empathy,
    emotional literacy, and social understanding,
  • To foster childrens prosocial qualities (concern
    for others, helpfulness, and cooperation),
  • To reduce levels of childrens aggression,
  • To increase childrens knowledge of human
    development, parenting, and infant safety.

22
Components of ROE
  • Classroom lessons for each theme (27 lessons)
  • The Pre Family Visit
  • The Family Visit
  • The Post Family Visit
  • Curricula are designed to be developmental
    appropriate (preK K grades 1 to 3, grades 4
    6, grades 7 8)
  • Lessons are scripted to match the age of the baby
    and the age of the students.

23
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24
Lesson Themes
  • Meeting the Baby
  • Crying
  • Caring and Planning for the Baby
  • Emotions
  • Sleep
  • Safety
  • Communication
  • Who am I?
  • Goodbye and Good Wishes

25
ROE Theoretical Framework
  • View of empathy as multidimensional (Feshbach,
    1979)
  • Cognitive perspective-taking
  • Affective emotion
  • Roots of empathy
  • Identification of emotions,
  • Understanding emotions,
  • Emotional responsiveness.

26
Learning Emotional Literacy
  • Observation of and labelling babys emotions.
  • Reflecting and identifying own emotions.
  • Understanding the emotions of others (empathy)

27
Emotional Literacy
When my friand is scard of the slad I will help
him.
28
Emotional Literacy
Try not to get mad at a baby because he might
learn to be mean when he grows up.
29
Theoretical Framework (contd)
  • Ecological Focus
  • A focus on changing the ecology of the classroom
    environment to one in which belonging, caring,
    collaboration, and understanding others is
    emphasized (Cohen, 2001 Goodenow, 1993
    Noddings, 1992).
  • Fostering a prosocial value orientation thru
    engaging children collectively in activities that
    benefit others (Staub, 1988).

30
Process/Mechanisms of Emotional Competence and ROE
  • Discussion of emotions (Saarni, 1999).
  • ROE from the first lesson onwards the concept of
    a literacy of feelings is discussed.
  • Opportunities to take others perspectives
    (Selman, 1980).
  • ROE perspective taking activities invite the
    children to explore the babys, the mothers,
    their peers and their own perspectives.
  • Opportunities to understand ones own emotions
    (Harris, 1995).
  • ROE many of the lessons include activities in
    which children are asked to reflect upon their
    own feelings.

31
Fostering a prosocial value orientation thru
engaging children collectively in activities that
benefit others (Staub, 1988).
32
  • Evaluations of the Effectiveness of the Roots of
    Empathy Program

33
Evaluating the Roots of Empathy
  • Evaluation of a routine practice program vs. a
    demonstration program. (Wilson, Lipsey,
    Derzon, 2003)
  • Developmental evaluation methodology (Schultz,
    Barr, Selman, 2001)
  • Rigorous Experimental Design (Quasi-Experimental
    and Randomized Controlled Trial)

34
UBC VSB Partnership
35
Research studies to date
  • 2000-2001Primary Grade Evaluation (N 132)
  • 2001-2002 National Evaluation (N 585)
  • 2002-2003 Rural/Urban Evaluation (N 419)
  • 2003-2004 RCT(N 456)
  • 2004-2007 Longitudinal Follow-up (N 374)

36
Evaluation Design
  • 2000-2003
  • Quasi-experimental, pretest, posttest, comparison
    group design
  • Comparison classrooms were matched with the
    program classrooms as close as possible with
    respect to grade, gender, and race/ethnicity
    composition. No sig. differences emerged on any
    of these variables.
  • 2003-2004
  • Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
  • Classrooms randomly assigned to ROE program and
    comparison classrooms.

37
The ROE Research StudyOutcome Measures
Socio-Emotional Understanding
Social Behaviours
  • Classroom Context

Parenting
38
Child Outcome Measures Self Reports
  • Social/Emotional Understanding
  • Chandler Cartoon Task (Chandler, 1973)
  • Socio-Emotional Understanding
  • Theory of Mind (ToM)
  • Mixed Emotions (Brown Dunn, 1996)
  • The Relationship Questionnaire Interpersonal
    Understanding subscale (Schultz Selman, 2000)
  • Empathy (Davis, Empathy-related 1983)

39
Child Outcome Measures Teacher Reports
  • Teacher Reports (Child Behavior Scale, Ladd
    Profilet, 1996 NLSCY)
  • Proactive Aggression cold blooded (bullying)
  • Reactive Aggression hot-headed
  • Relational Aggression (indirect) e.g., gossip
  • Prosocial Behaviors (share, help, cooperate)

40
Child Outcome Measures Peer Reports
  • Peer Behavioural Assessments (Parkhurst Asher,
    1992 Schonert-Reichl, 1999 Wentzel, 1997)
  • Aggression (proactive, reactive, relational)
  • Prosocial Behaviors (shares, helps, cooperates)
  • Prosocial Characteristics (fair, trust, kind)
  • Peer Acceptance (include in school activities)

41
Child Outcome Measures Self Reports
  • Classroom Context (Battistich, Solomon, Watson,
    Schaps, 1997)
  • Classroom Autonomy
  • Classroom Supportiveness
  • Infant Facial Expression of Emotion Task (Emde et
    al.,1993)
  • Parenting Sense of Competence (Gibaud-Walston
    Wandersman, 1978)
  • Parenting Satisfaction
  • Parenting Efficacy

42
Results (2000-2003)
  • Program Effects on Socio-Emotional Understanding

43
2000-2001 Social Emotional Understanding
(Adjusted Mean Scores)
44
Results (2000-2003)
  • Program Effects on
  • Aggression

45
2000-2001 Changes in Teacher-Rated Proactive
Aggression from Pretest to Post-Test by Group
Comparison Children
Roots of Empathy Children
46
2000-2001 Children who evidenced some proactive
aggression at pre-testROE children 88
decreased Comparison children 9 decreased 50
increased
47
2001-2002 Changes in Teachers Reports of Social
Behaviours
Statistically sig. at p lt .05
48
, Of those children who demonstrated some form
of Proactive Aggression at pretestROE Children
-- 67 decreased Comparison Children, 64
increased
49
Results (2000-2003)
  • Program Effects on
  • Prosocial Behaviors/Characteristics

50
2001-2002 Changes in Peer Assessments of
Prosocialness
51
2002-2003 Changes in Peer Assessments of
Prosocialness and Peer Acceptance
52
Results (2000-2003)
  • Program Effects on Beliefs about Parenting
    Competence

53
2001-2002 Infant Facial Expression of Emotion
Task Changes in Causal Explanations
54
2001-2002 Infant Facial Expression of Emotion
Task Changes in Strategy Knowledge
55
2002-2003 Changes in Beliefs About Parenting
Competence
56
Results (2000-2003)
  • Program Effects on Perception of the Classroom
    Environment

57
2002-2003 Changes in Perceptions of a Caring
Classroom Environment
58
Implementation Results Summary
  • Program dosage
  • Mean number of lessons taught, 25.21 (SD 1.25),
    with a range of 23 to 26 lessons.
  • No significant relation of program dosage to
    child outcomes.
  • Stronger positive outcomes among ROE children
    were associated with
  • Instructors years of experience with
    implementing social-emotional competence
    programs.
  • Instructors previous experience implementing
    ROE.
  • Childrens level of engagement during ROE lessons
    (pre/post lessons, instructors reports).
  • Teachers belief in the efficacy of ROE.
  • Number of ROE extension activities in classrooms.

59
  • Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

60
What is an RCT?
  • Randomized controlled trials or RCTs are the
    most rigorous way of determining whether a
    cause-effect relation exists between a program
    and an outcome.
  • That is, it is only through random assignment to
    the program and comparison groups that we can
    determine whether or not the program caused
    changes in childrens social and emotional
    competence.

61
2003-2004, RCT Method
  • Participants
  • 456 children (46 girls)
  • 10 ROE Program classrooms (n 234) in 10 schools
  • 10 Comparison classrooms (n 222) in 10 schools
  • Grades 4-7 (Mean Age 10.71, SD 1.1)
  • 53 English as a First Language
  • Classrooms were randomly assigned to serve as
    either program or comparison classrooms.

62
Change Scores for Interpersonal Understanding and
Peer Intimacy
63
Change Scores for Teachers Ratings of Aggression
64
Change Scores for Teachers Ratings of Prosocial
Behaviour
65
Change Scores for Peer Nominations of Prosocial
Behaviours
66
Change Scores for Classroom Supportiveness
67
  • ROE Summary of Research Findings

68
What have we learned so far?
  • Across the 4 years of research, children who
    receive ROE in contrast to those who do not, show
    significant improvements in the following areas
  • Increased understanding of emotion
  • Increased prosocial behaviors
  • Decreased aggression/bullying
  • These findings are in direct concordance with the
    ROE program goals.
  • These findings demonstrated some consistency
    across grade levels, settings, informants, and
    measures utilized.

69
What are the mechanisms/processes of change?
  • Socio-moral Development

Classroom Context
70
Some Future Directions
  • Longitudinal follow-up
  • Are changes sustained?
  • Sleeper effects?
  • Changes across developmental transitions
  • Effects of ROE on internalizing problems
  • Psychobiologic correlates (biological roots of
    ROE)
  • Subgroup analyses of high risk children
  • Examine relation between childrens knowledge of
    infant development and their behaviors with
    infant siblings/other infants.
  • Implementation and sustainability

71
With Thanks To . . .
  • Co-investigators
  • Clyde Hertzman
  • Anat Zaidman-Zait
  • Community Collaborators
  • Vancouver School Board (Alva Jensen, Larry
    Haberlin)
  • Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (Lois Yelland)
  • Research Assistants
  • Shayna Rusticus, Celina Vergel de Dios, Lynda
    Hutchinson, Zoe Paris, Matt Haberlin, Molly
    Stewart Lawlor, Janette McIntosh
  • Funders
  • UBC Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP),
  • BC Ministry of Education,
  • UBC Hampton Research Fund,
  • United Way,
  • BC Medical Services Foundation (Vancouver
    Foundation)
  • And to . . .
  • Mary Gordon and the members of the Roots of
    Empathy Board

72
Contact Information
  • Kim Schonert-Reichl
  • Dept. of Educational and Counselling Psychology,
    Special Education
  • University of British Columbia
  • Office (604)822-2215
  • Research Lab (604)822-3420
  • E-mail kimberly.schonert-reichl_at_ubc.ca
  • Roots of Empathy
  • (416) 944-3001
  • Website www.rootsofempathy.org
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