Investigating Impulsivity as a Root Cause of School Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Teacher scolding high school student

According to the literature, difficulty controlling impulsive tendencies is one of the top predictors of serious school violence perpetration, particularly when a child exhibits aggression and delinquency at school. Individuals who struggle with impulse control are also more likely to develop externalizing disorders, cheat on tests, and commit crimes

As a result, regulating impulsivity is fundamental to the prevention of school violence perpetration in particular and other adverse behaviors in general. The purpose of this project is to investigate impulsivity as a root cause of school violence.
 

AIR's Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

In partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), the Methods of Synthesis and Integration Center (MOSAIC) at AIR is conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis to understand impulsivity as a root cause of school violence. 

Our research questions:

Meta-analyzing longitudinal relations between students’ impulsivity and subsequent school violence involvement will help researchers and practitioners create prevention programming that improves school safety for all students.
  • Does the longitudinal evidence suggest impulsivity is a root cause of school violence perpetration and/or victimization?
  • Is the predictive validity of impulsivity for school violence stronger for perpetration than victimization?
  • Which methods and measures of assessing impulsivity are most predictive of subsequent school violence?
  • Is the predictive validity of impulsivity for school violence moderated by sociodemographic characteristics?

Our project goes beyond prior studies and reviews in several important ways: 

  • We will focus specifically on impulsivity and school violence, prioritize longitudinal studies that support inferences about root causes of school violence, and employ appropriate methodological and statistical techniques to combine effect sizes across studies. 
  • We will also conduct the moderator analyses needed to address how and when impulsivity should be screened in children in order to reduce school violence among those at risk of involvement. For example, by examining the conceptualizations and measures of impulsivity that are most predictive, the age ranges during which longitudinal associations are strongest, and the subtypes of school violence for which impulsivity is diagnostic (such as perpetration versus victimization). 
  • Finally, we will examine heterogeneity in the predictive validity of impulsivity to understand moderation by sociodemographic characteristics. 

We believe that these investigations will help answer whether impulsivity is a root cause of school violence and will point to innovative solutions to prevent and reduce violence in schools.

This project is being conducted with funding from the National Institute of Justice’s Research and Evaluation on School Safety Fiscal Year 2022 Competitive Research Grants Program (CFDA 16.560).