Promoting Social Competence and Reducing Behavior Problems in At-Risk Students: Implementation and Efficacy of Universal and Selective Prevention Programs in Schools

Abstract

(from the chapter) Without effective prevention and early intervention, social, emotional, and behavior problems in children tend to worsen. For example, children in the early grades (i.e., kindergarten to 3rd grade) demonstrating poor social skills and/or behavior problems are at significant risk for continuing behavioral challenges and poor classroom participation which leads to poor outcomes such as low levels of academic achievement, dropping out of school, and compromised economic outcomes. This chapter provides descriptions of universal and selective prevention programs that have been employed with at-risk children and seek to promote social competence while also reducing behavior problems. The descriptions focus on programs used with elementary and middle school students and include details of target goals, programmatic activities, implementation, and effectiveness. All of the programs described in the chapter have received support for being evidence based by at least one of the following sources: (I) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Policies (NREPP; www.nrepp.samhsa.gov); (2) the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Program al the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Buffalo (www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints); (3) Child Link/TRENDS (www.childtrends.org/Links); or (4) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (www.ojjdp.gov/mpg). The programs described in this chapter do not represent a comprehensive list of all evidence-based universal and selective prevention programs. However, the reader is provided with a focused overview of illustrative programs that have received empirical support for at-risk students and can be delivered by school mental health personnel or teachers in the school setting. That being said, it is important to consider the following caveats: (I) the programs reviewed have mixed levels of empirical support across the different sources; (2) the criteria by which different sources judge a program to be evidence based are not universal; (3) some of the reviewed programs are based on few studies or have heavily relied on outcome data from a single research laboratory; and (4) the measured aspects of what gets defined as negative behaviors and social competence vary significantly across the different studies and programs. All of these factors have considerably impacted implementation and evaluation in school settings and therefore should be taken into consideration when planning and selecting prevention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)