Abstract
Evaluations of prevention programs, such as the PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX), often have multiple outcome variables (e.g., emotional, behavioral, and relationship problems). These are often reported for multiple time points (e.g., pre- and post-intervention) where data are multilevel (e.g., students nested in schools). In this paper, we present both variable-oriented and person-oriented statistical approaches, to evaluate an intervention program with multilevel, longitudinal multivariate outcomes. Using data from the Manitoba PAX Study, we show how these two approaches provide us with different information that can be complementary. Data analyses with the variable-oriented approach (multilevel linear regression model) provided us with overall PAX program effects for each outcome variable; the person-oriented approach (latent transition analysis) allowed us to explore the transition of multiple outcomes across multiple time points and how the intervention program affects this transition differently for students with different risk profiles. We also used both approaches to examine how gender and socio-economic status related to the program effects. The implications of these results and the use of both types of approaches for program evaluation are discussed.
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Preparation of this paper was supported in part by a grant from the Research Manitoba Applied Health Services Program and Canadian Institute for Health Research Project Grant.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional (i.e., University of Manitoba) research committee and with 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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In accordance with The Healthy Child Manitoba Act, no informed consents or permissions from parents are required. But a note was given to their parents that they can remove their child and/or come to the school to review the questionnaire in advance and then either allow their child to proceed or remove them.
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Jiang, D., Santos, R., Josephson, W. et al. A Comparison of Variable- and Person-Oriented Approaches in Evaluating a Universal Preventive Intervention. Prev Sci 19, 738–747 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0881-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0881-x