Intervention for Individuals w/FAS--Community Projects

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Research has shown that children with prenatal alcohol exposure have problems in socialization and peer relationships. In a number of studies, prenatally exposed children have been shown to have poor social skills such as failure to consider the consequences of their actions, difficulty understanding social cues, indiscriminant social behavior, and difficulty communicating in social contexts. The developmentof adequate social skills is important because the child with poor skills acquires a negative reputation among peers concomitant with social rejection and a higher probability of engaging in delinquent acts. In recognitionof the importance of early social skill development for children with prenatal alcohol exposure, Project Bruin Buddies (CDC/U84-CCU920158) was initiated using an empirically derived parent assisted social skills training approach. Results of the randomized controlled study were that children in the treatment group showed a significant improvement in the quality of their play with other children, a greater knowledge regarding appropriate social behaviors, improved overall social skills, and a reduction in problem behaviors compared to the control group. Furthermore, they continued to show improvement at 3-month follow up. Given the success of this intervention program, we now propose to introduce it to a local mental health agency and to work with that agency to determine how best to adapt and implement the intervention in the community. In this way,we hope to bridge the transitionbetween university based research and community implementation. Following successful community implementation, we propose to disseminate this social skills intervention approach using a train-the-trainer model that will be offered to other mental health professionals on a state and nationallevel.