Self-Management Interventions among Students with Disabilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Students with disabilities often present social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems that can adversely impact their educational progress. As a result, interventions that are effective in addressing these non-academic challenges are needed. Self-management is an intervention that has demonstrated effectiveness across individual studies and systematic reviews. However, few studies have examined how participant characteristics or intervention characteristics may influence the intervention's effectiveness. Educators need this information to successfully support the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. As such, this study consists of a systematic review and meta-analysis designed to answer the following questions. (1.) What is the average treatment effect of self-management interventions among individuals with disabilities? (2.) Is there a difference in treatment effect for (a) social, (b) academic, or (c) behavioral outcomes? (3.) Do student characteristics (e.g., age, gender, grade, race, cognitive ability, disability) moderate the intervention effect? (4.) Do intervention characteristics (e.g., implementer, setting, proportion of self-managed components) moderate the intervention effect? This systematic review and meta-analysis provides an update of the current literature regarding the effectiveness and implementation of self-management intervention among school-age students with disabilities and provides evidence that may help guide educators in the selection of interventions that best match their students. Compared to previous reviews, this study includes a broader range of disability categories and learning contexts. Additionally, the current study used multilevel modeling and robust variance estimation, which allowed for the investigation of within-study and between-study differences in student outcomes. Results from 41 studies and 117 participants yielded an overall positive effect indicating that all participants displayed some benefit from self-management interventions. Results, however, revealed significant variability between and within studies, suggesting that participants benefited differently, even when provided the same intervention. Further analyses suggest that participant characteristics have a greater influence on outcomes than intervention characteristics. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]