Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study aimed to intervene on personality trait behavior related to the externalization of undercontrolled junior high school students. Undercontrollers are socially maladapted types with high impulsivity and low self-control. Research shows they are at risk for externalizing problems, such as aggressiveness, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior. METHODS: A total of 643 students (Boys = 12.39, 55.4% girls) from a junior high school in Dalian participated in the study. The study used latent class analysis to classify 68 undercontrolled junior high school students (10.6%). The experimental group (32 participants) was given 30 systematic experiential intervention activities for 15 weeks, while the control group (30 participants) was given free activities simultaneously. Pre-intervention, post-intervention, and four months post-intervention, participants' externalizing problem behavior and personality scores were tested by the Youth Self-Report and Junior High School Students Personality Development Self-Assessment Questionnaire. The effect of the intervention was tested by repeated-measure ANOVA. RESULT: After one semester of intervention, the intervention effect was significant. The test results of the uncontrolled participants in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group. In the post-test, the personality score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: We discovered that the intervention program could ameliorate the externalizing problem behavior of undercontrolled junior high school students, and demonstrated a sustained promotion effect. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.