Effects of the Internal Locus of Control Program and Emotion Control Skill Program on Psychological Trait and Violence Prevention Behaviors of Upper Elementary School Students

Abstract

 This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare the scores of the internal locus of control, likability behavior, friend protection behavior, and emotion control behavior of upper elementary school students within and between experimental and control groups, before and after participating in internal locus of control and/or emotion control skill program. The sample was comprised of 410 upper elementary students, a simple random sampling from the schools affiliated with Bangkok. The instruments used in the experimental groups were the internal locus of control program and the emotional control skills program. The instruments used in the comparison group were educational videos on health care for adolescents. The instruments for data collection included a general information questionnaire and psychological and behavioral test. Data collection was conducted in three phases: pre-training, immediate post-training, and three-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation, repeated measures ANOVA, and 2-way and 3-way ANOVA.
The results for upper elementary students revealed that: (1) The group that received the internal locus of control program showed significantly higher internal locus of control and friend protection behavior scores when measured immediately post-training compared to pre-training and comparative group (p < 0.05). (2) The group that received the emotion control skill program showed significantly higher friend protection behavior scores when measured immediately post-training compared to pre-training and comparative group (p < 0.05). (3) The group that received both programs showed psychological trait and behavior scores that were not significantly different from pre-training and comparative group (p > 0.05).