In Praise of a Cumulative Prevention Science

Durlak and Wells (1997) provide a pivotal appraisal of prevention research on children and adolescents. Their meta-analytic approach has the advantages of reducing scientific misjudgments based on single studies, and providing a more balanced evaluation of impact of various interventions; it provides an opportunity for hypothesis finding, helps set methodological standards, allows assessment of working classifications in the field, and an evaluation of the maturity of the prevention field itself. New developmental tasks for the field include incorporating and pursuing the leads produced by these findings, conducting similar research syntheses with other populations and outcomes, and using the results as an impetus to increased operational precision and parsimony.