Fadeout and Persistence of Intervention Impacts on Social-Emotional and Cognitive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. EdWorkingPaper No. 23-782
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| Title: | Fadeout and Persistence of Intervention Impacts on Social-Emotional and Cognitive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. EdWorkingPaper No. 23-782 |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Emma R. Hart, Drew H. Bailey, Sha Luo, Pritha Sengupta, Tyler W. Watts, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University |
| Source: | Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2024. |
| Availability: | Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 151 |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH) National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Graduate Education (DGE) |
| Contract Number: | 1R01HD09593001A1 2036197 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Literature Reviews, Meta Analysis, Children, Adolescents, Intervention, Interpersonal Competence, Social Emotional Learning, Thinking Skills, Randomized Controlled Trials, Pretests Posttests |
| Abstract: | Researchers and policymakers aspire for educational interventions to change children's long-run developmental trajectories. However, intervention impacts on cognitive and achievement measures commonly fade over time. Less is known, although much is theorized, about social-emotional skill persistence. The current meta-analysis investigated whether intervention impacts on social-emotional skills demonstrated greater persistence than impacts on cognitive skills. We drew studies from eight pre-existing meta-analyses, generating a sample of 86 educational RCTs targeting children from infancy through adolescence, together involving 56,662 participants and 450 outcomes measured at post-test and at least one follow-up. Relying on a meta-regression approach for modeling persistence rates, we tested the extent to which post-test impact magnitudes predicted follow-up impact magnitudes. We found that post-test impacts were equally predictive of follow-up impacts for cognitive and social-emotional skills at 6- to 12- months follow-up, indicating similar conditional persistence rates across skill types. At 1- to 2- years follow-up, rates were lower and, if anything, cognitive skills showed greater conditional persistence than social-emotional skills. A small positive follow-up effect was observed, on average, beyond what was directly predicted by the post-test impact, indicating that interventions may have long-term effects that are not fully mediated by post-test effects. This pattern of results implied that smaller post-test impacts produced more persistent effects than larger post-test impacts, and social-emotional skill impacts were smaller, on average, than cognitive skill impacts. Considered as a whole, intervention impacts on both social-emotional and cognitive skills demonstrated fadeout, especially for interventions that produced larger initial effects. Implications for theory and future directions are discussed. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Notes: | https://doi.org/10.33009/ldbase.1719529626.152e |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | ED672310 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Researchers and policymakers aspire for educational interventions to change children's long-run developmental trajectories. However, intervention impacts on cognitive and achievement measures commonly fade over time. Less is known, although much is theorized, about social-emotional skill persistence. The current meta-analysis investigated whether intervention impacts on social-emotional skills demonstrated greater persistence than impacts on cognitive skills. We drew studies from eight pre-existing meta-analyses, generating a sample of 86 educational RCTs targeting children from infancy through adolescence, together involving 56,662 participants and 450 outcomes measured at post-test and at least one follow-up. Relying on a meta-regression approach for modeling persistence rates, we tested the extent to which post-test impact magnitudes predicted follow-up impact magnitudes. We found that post-test impacts were equally predictive of follow-up impacts for cognitive and social-emotional skills at 6- to 12- months follow-up, indicating similar conditional persistence rates across skill types. At 1- to 2- years follow-up, rates were lower and, if anything, cognitive skills showed greater conditional persistence than social-emotional skills. A small positive follow-up effect was observed, on average, beyond what was directly predicted by the post-test impact, indicating that interventions may have long-term effects that are not fully mediated by post-test effects. This pattern of results implied that smaller post-test impacts produced more persistent effects than larger post-test impacts, and social-emotional skill impacts were smaller, on average, than cognitive skill impacts. Considered as a whole, intervention impacts on both social-emotional and cognitive skills demonstrated fadeout, especially for interventions that produced larger initial effects. Implications for theory and future directions are discussed. |
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