REDUCING RISK & ENHANCING PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN CHILDREN

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Reducing Risk and Enhancing Protective Factors Among Children is a proposed five-year project to test experimentally the impact of a comprehensive prevention program for elementary school students to reduce their risk for adolescent substance abuse. The project's goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of enhanced implementation and improved intervention of a prevention strategy which has been shown to be effective in reducing children's risks for problem behavior. The project will extend the strategy to enhance its potential to reach and be effective with high risk groups, to enhance the implementation and effectiveness of the teaching practices demonstrated to be effective in reducing risks and enhancing children's stake in education and to enhance its potential to teach children and their families skills to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors. The project works with three key socializing groups (parents, teachers, and peers) to reduce risk factors of early antisocial behavior, poor family management, and academic failure and by enhancing the protective factors of family bonding and commitment to school. The comprehensive strategy provides parent training in family management and in methods to support childrens' academic success; teacher training in proactive classroom management, interactive teaching, and cooperative learning methods; and training of children in interpersonal and problem solving skills to express themselves and meet their goals without resorting to aggression or other problem behaviors. In-home services will be provided to the families of students at greatest risk of drug abuse to insure parental acquisition of effective family management methods and skills for supporting academic progress, and to insure student acquisition and use of interpersonal and problem solving skills. Ten schools have been matched and then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. This intervention will be evaluated through baseline and annual parent, teacher and student surveys and school record collection.