An integrated components preventive intervention for aggressive elementary school children: the early risers program.
The Early Risers prevention program aims to alter the developmental trajectory of children with early onset aggressive behavior. The program features 4 CORE components: (a) an annual 6-week summer school program, (b) a teacher consultation and student mentoring program, (c) child social skills groups, and (d) parent education and skills-training groups, all delivered in tandem with a FLEX family support program individually tailored to address the unique needs of families. At baseline, the mean age of the sample was 6.6 years. Following 2 years of intervention, program children showed significant improvement relative to controls in academic achievement and school behaviors. Change on behavioral self-regulation was moderated by level of child aggression, with intervention effects found for only the most severely aggressive children. Parents with high program attendance rates showed improvement in discipline methods.
August
G J
GJ
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis 55454-1495, USA. augus001@umn.edu
Realmuto
G M
GM
Hektner
J M
JM
Bloomquist
M L
ML
D000124:Achievement; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004519:Education, Special; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D010379:Peer Group; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012919:Social Behavior