Promoting personal and social skills in youth with disruptive behaviors: A systematic review of tertiary programs

Disruptive behavior in youth (i.e., persistent oppositional, aggressive, or delinquent conduct) predicts harm to self and others, as well as long-term social exclusion. Tertiary, skill-oriented programs aim to prevent the escalation of these behaviors and strengthen personal and social skills. However, an up-to-date, comprehensive synthesis of their effectiveness is still lacking. In accordance with PRISMA 2020, we searched Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, and B-on. Studies included justice-involved, school-referred, community, and/or mixed-setting. Overall, 43 peer-reviewed studies (January 2013–May 2025) evaluating tertiary, skill-focused interventions for youth aged 10–24 met the eligibility criteria. Outcomes primarily indexed reductions in disruptive behavior (e.g., aggression, violent behavior) and/or improvements in skills (e.g., emotion regulation, self-control, empathy, problem solving). Theme-focused, multimodal, and sufficiently intensive programs were most consistently associated with reduced aggression and improved skills. However, findings and methodological quality were heterogeneous, and follow-up data was limited. Digital delivery components were rare. We discuss these findings and propose a modular program architecture that combines a structured, evidence-based core (e. g., manualized content, fidelity monitoring) with planned flexibility (e.g., thematic breadth, dosage) to match youths’ risk-need profiles and the constraints of justice, school, and community settings. Key limitations (e.g., limited follow-up, cultural sensitivity) and future directions (e.g., finer-grained analyses linking youngsters’ needs to specific modules) are also discussed.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi; PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho and at Research Centre in Human Development (CEDH-UCP), and was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; UID/01662/2025) through the Portuguese State Budget. CIPsi is registered under the https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/01662/2025 and CEDH under the reference UID/04872/2025.