JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Extremism continues to raise concerns about conflict and violent attacks. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to radicalization by extremist groups. Given its location in a region that often experiences extremism, the Kingdom of Bahrain developed four peaceful coexistence lessons and four anti-extremism lessons that could be implemented as part of their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.

Objective:

Report the results of the preparation phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to develop and optimize peaceful coexistence and anti-extremism lessons implemented by D.A.R.E. officers in Bahrain.

Methods:

We developed conceptual models for the peaceful coexistence and anti-extremism lessons, indicating which mediators each lesson should target, the proximal outcomes that should be shaped by these mediators, and the distal and ultimate outcomes that the intervention is trying to change. We then recruited 20 middle schools to pilot test our research protocol, survey measures, and the existing intervention lessons. A total of 854 7th and 8th grade students completed a pretest survey, four peaceful coexistence intervention lessons, and an immediate posttest survey; and a total of 495 9th grade students completed the pretest survey, four anti-extremism lessons, and an immediate posttest survey. A series of 3-level models, nesting students within classrooms within schools, were used to examine mean differences from pretest to posttest surveys.

Results:

Students who completed the peaceful coexistence lessons reported significant changes in multiple targeted mediating variables: injunctive norms about intolerance, (p<0.001), beliefs about consequences of not listening to others (p<0.001), self-efficacy to use resistance skills themselves (p<0.001) and to encourage their friends to use them (p<0.001), and self-efficacy to use more thoughtful decision-making skills (p=0.005). They also reported significant improvements in several proximal outcomes: social skills empathy (p=0.008), tolerance beliefs (p=0.041), and open-mindedness about diversity (p=0.020). Students who completed the anti-extremism lessons reported significant changes in injunctive norms about intolerance (p=0.014), beliefs about consequences of not listening to others (p<0.001), self-efficacy to use resistance skills themselves (p<0.001), and social skills empathy (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

An effective anti-extremism program has the potential to protect youth from radicalization and increase peaceful coexistence in the long-term. This pilot study shows promising results that the existing peaceful coexistence and anti-extremism lessons have effect on some of the targeted mediators and proximal outcomes. Going forward, we will use results from this Preparation Phase of MOST to revise the existing lessons and conduct optimization trials to evaluate the efficacy of the individual lessons.