Preventive Interventions for Children and Adolescents A Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence

This systematic review examines the meta-analytic evidence on four broad categories of preventive interventions for children and adolescents, including: mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. There were 15 meta-analytic studies that fit the criteria for inclusion. For each intervention type, the target population, main implementation strategies, and meta-analytic evidence are reported. The review considers the effectiveness of these preventive interventions across various content areas and populations, providing an indication of which type of intervention has the strongest effects on what outcomes, where they are most beneficial, and for whom they are most promising. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs can all promote positive development and prevent problematic behaviors. Overall, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs have shown small to large effects on a variety of outcomes, while mentoring has shown small but significant effects. The review concludes with a discussion of key criteria that should be considered when choosing a particular program type.