Theoretical, Developmental & Cultural Orientations of School-Based Prevention Programs for Preschoolers

Schools are the primary environment in which to conduct prevention programs for school-age children. Educators, policy makers, and psychologist argue that prevention efforts should begin as early as possible to maximize their effectiveness. Surprisingly, there are relatively few school-based prevention programs targeted for preschoolers. Given the evidence supporting earlier rather than later prevention efforts and the fact that many children in the United States attend preschool programs, more research on the feasibility and effectiveness of prevention programs administered in preschool environments is warranted. In this article, we review the existing literature on school-based prevention programs targeted for preschool children. We examine whether school-based prevention programs are theory driven, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and aimed specifically at symptom reduction or behavior promotion. Based on the findings of this review, our aim is to identify gaps in the prevention research literature regarding programs for preschoolers and propose research to address such gaps to create more effective school-based prevention programs for young children.     

Community Involvement in Adapting and Testing a Prevention Program for Preschoolers Living in Urban Communities: ParentCorps

We describe a university-community collaborative effort to tailor and deliver a prevention program for families of preschoolers living in low-income, urban communities. ParentCorps, which builds on efficacious interventions with parents and young children, aims to promote child social competence and prevent conduct problems by strengthening parenting skills, enhancing support for parents, and empowering parents to access resources in their communities. Active community engagement and collaboration were viewed as critical to the development of the program and its feasibility testing. We present an overview of community involvement in the development of ParentCorps and approaches taken to involve community members during a feasibility study. Areas of success and lessons learned are discussed.     

The roles of hopeful thinking in preventing problems and enhancing strengths

From its most famous tale, that of Pandora, hope was meant to prevent the emergence and reemergence of life difficulties. A new model defining hope as a combination of agentic pathways and goal-directed thinking is reviewed. Comparisons of the similarities of this theory to other existing theories are made. The beneficial roles of hope in primary (before the appearance of a problem) and secondary (after a problem has appeared) prevention are explored. Primary enhancement is introduced as involving those thoughts and actions that establish optimal functioning and satisfaction. Secondary enhancement is posited to describe those thoughts and actions that are undertaken over time so as to further functioning and satisfaction in order to reach peak levels. Using hope theory as a lens, these primary and secondary enhancement processes are described. The natural synergy between prevention and enhancement activities is discussed, along with the future priorities for using hope in prevention and enhancement efforts.     

Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol: Findings from a Community-Based Randomized Trial

Underage drinking continues to be an important public health problem and a challenge to the substance abuse prevention field. Community-based interventions designed to more rigorously control underage access to alcohol through retailer education and greater enforcement of underage drinking laws have been advocated as potentially effective strategies to help address this problem, but studies designed to evaluate such interventions are sparse. To address this issue we conducted a randomized trial involving 36 communities to test the combined effectiveness of five interrelated intervention components designed to reduce underage access to alcohol. The intervention was found to be effective in reducing the likelihood that retail clerks would sell alcohol to underage-looking buyers, but did not reduce underage drinking or the perceived availability of alcohol among high school students. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed significant associations between the level of underage drinking law enforcement in the intervention communities and reductions in both 30-day use of alcohol and binge drinking. The findings highlight the difficulty in reducing youth drinking even when efforts to curtail retail access are successful. Study findings also suggest that high intensity implementation of underage drinking law enforcement can reduce underage drinking. Any such effects of enhanced enforcement on underage drinking appear to be more directly attributable to an increase in perceived likelihood of enforcement and the resultant perceived inconveniences and/or sanctions to potential drinkers, than to a reduction in access to alcohol per se.     

Accomplishing Structural Change: Identifying Intermediate Indicators of Success

Coalitions are routinely employed across the United States as a method of mobilizing communities to improve local conditions that impact on citizens’ well-being. Success in achieving specific objectives for environmental or structural community change may not quickly translate into improved population outcomes in the community, posing a dilemma for coalitions that pursue changes that focus on altering community conditions. Considerable effort by communities to plan for and pursue structural change objectives, without evidence of logical and appropriate intermediate markers of success could lead to wasted effort. Yet, the current literature provides little guidance on how coalitions might select intermediate indicators of achievement to judge their progress and the utility of their effort. The current paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of various indicators of intermediate success in creating structural changes among a sample of 13 coalitions organized to prevent exposure to HIV among high-risk adolescents in their local communities.     

Evaluation of a Spiritually Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Training Program

The authors empirically evaluated a spiritually based 1‐day child maltreatment training program. Pretest, posttest, and follow‐up results indicated that participants' recognition of hypothetical maltreatment did not increase after training. Furthermore, although participants decreased their use of items known to dissuade decisions to report, they were less likely to report maltreatment posttraining and 1 month later. Focus group data revealed that participants felt more knowledgeable but insufficiently prepared to respond to maltreatment and that they needed opportunities to practice what they had learned. Suggestions for clergy, pastoral counselors, and mental health professionals working within spiritual communities are provided to inform curriculum advancements.     

Project HOPE: Implementing Sensory Experiences for Suicide Prevention in a Native American Community

Suicide remains a significant problem for Native American populations; however, culturally appropriate interventions are lacking (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2011 Suicide Prevention Resource Center . ( 2011 ). Suicide Among American Indians/Alaska Natives. Retrieved from http://www.sprc.org/library/ai.an.facts.pdf  [Google Scholar]). Occupational therapy practitioners can aid in suicide prevention and intervention (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2005). This study presents a culturally appropriate program and research project following a community-based participatory research design that explores the impact of a sensory curriculum for suicide prevention on Native American youth. The perceptions of the young peoples' sensory experiences are explored. Evidence from the study demonstrates the value of exploring the use of occupational therapy intervention in Native American communities to address significant health concerns.     

A Place at the Table: Integrating Diet and Nutrition into Family Therapy Practice

Most schools of family therapy directly or indirectly recognize that personal qualities of the therapist influence therapy process. If personal qualities of therapists are associated with therapy process, it seems plausible that there would be some interaction between their personal relationships and therapy process. The present study examines the relationship between emotion management at home and emotion management at work to job satisfaction and marital satisfaction of marriage and family therapists. Results suggest that men and women experience a different interaction between emotion management, relationship satisfaction, and job satisfaction.     

Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Young Children: An Intervention Model and Case Series

This article presents an intervention model for young children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The intervention, designed to reduce compulsive behavior and improve parenting practices, was tested using a multiple baseline design with 7 children (M = 6 years old; 57% female) in which participants were randomly assigned to 1, 2, or 3 weeks of baseline (i.e., no treatment). All children were diagnosed with OCD using a semi-structured diagnostic interview. Baseline and weekly ratings of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and family accommodation were obtained. In addition, at pre- and post-treatment and 1-month follow-up, independent evaluators and/or parents completed measures assessing the severity and impact of OC symptoms and child and family functioning. Findings revealed that participants had a 33–66% reduction in OC symptoms (as measured by the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale; CYBOCS) at posttreatment and 6 of the 7 children were rated as treatment responders on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale. At the 1-month follow-up, participants had a 17–82% reduction in OC symptoms. Treatment was also effective in reducing parental accommodation of child OC behaviors. Overall treatment satisfaction was high and parents found most core treatment ingredients (e.g., psychoeducation, exposure and ritual prevention, contingency management) very helpful. Implications for further developing and testing psychosocial treatments for young children are discussed.