KITS: School Readiness in Foster Care Efficacy Trial

拟议研究的总体目标是进行一项预防性的随机疗效试验。 干预-过渡到学校的儿童(KITS)计划-加强社会情感和学业学校 学龄前寄养儿童的准备情况。寄养儿童面临着社会和学业条件差的巨大风险 结果。由于他们早年经历的逆境，这些孩子可能具有特殊的脆弱性 降低成功过渡到学校的可能性。先前广泛的研究表明，慢性早期 逆境与关键神经系统(特别是前额叶皮质)功能的改变有关 功能和下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴活动)与自我调节和应激反应有关。改建 可能会干扰儿童与同龄人相处、保持集中注意力、跟随他人的能力 方向，并学习学术技能。此外，因为这些孩子很可能经历了多个 活着的过渡期，他们可能在照顾者参与学校方面处于劣势，这是 早年在学校取得的成功。寄养儿童(N=200)将在他们进入幼儿园之前的春季被招募，并将 被随机分配到干预(“=100)和比较条件(”=100)。试剂盒干预 包括四个部分：(A)28次--儿童治疗性游戏小组，以促进发展 自我管理、社交和紧急识字技能；(B)一个6次会议的心理教育支助小组，以促进 照顾者参与儿童的紧急识字和学校教育，并使用有效的育儿技巧； (C)有系统的发育筛查和转介；以及(D)以家庭和学校为基础的行为咨询。这个 干预恰逢进入幼儿园的过渡时期。对儿童的多方法、多主体评估 社会情绪准备和识字技能将在基线、幼儿园入学和幼儿园后进行。 我们将研究干预措施对入学准备和幼稚园成绩的直接影响。我们还将 评估干预效果是否通过应激反应和调节机制进行调节 护理者变量。最后，我们将测试儿童和语境特征的调节效应，包括早期 逆境(产前/新生儿健康、虐待病史和安置病史)、儿童认知功能和 在研究过程中的位置转换。这项研究的另一个探索性目的是检查 干预对亚样本儿童一、二年级成绩的影响。组比较和 纵向增长模型将允许对假设进行评估。

The overarching goal of the proposed research is to conduct a randomized efficacy trial of a preventive intervention-the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) program-to enhance socioemotional and academic school readiness among preschool-aged foster children. Foster children are at great risk for poor social and academic school outcomes. Because of their experiences of early adversity, these children may have particular vulnerabilities that decrease the likelihood of a successful transition to school. Extensive prior research has shown that chronic early adversity is associated with alterations in the functioning of key neural systems (specifically, prefrontal cortex function and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity)related to self-regulation and stress reactivity. Alterations in these systems may interfere with children's abilities to relate to peers, to maintain focused attention, to follow directions, and to learn academic skills. Additionally, because these children are likely to have experienced multiple living transitions, they may be at a disadvantage in terms of caregiver involvement in school, a critical aspect of early school success. Foster children (N = 200) will be recruited in the spring before they enter kindergarten and will be randomly assigned to the intervention (" = 100) and comparison conditions (" = 100). The KITS intervention includes four components: (a) 28-sesssions of child therapeutic play groups to facilitate the development of self-regulatory, social, and emergent literacy skills; (b) a 6-session psychoeducational support group to promote caregiver involvement in the child's emergent literacy and schooling and the use of effective parenting techniques; (c) systematic developmental screening and referral; and (d) home- and school-based behavioral consultation. The intervention coincides with the transition into kindergarten. Multi-method, multi-agent assessments of the children's socioemotional readiness and literacy skills will be conducted at baseline, kindergarten entry, and postkindergarten. We will examine the direct effects of the intervention on school readiness and kindergarten outcomes. We will also assess whether intervention effects are mediated through mechanisms of stress reactivity and regulation and caregiver variables. Finally, we will test for moderator effects of child and contextual characteristics including early adversity (prenatal/neonatal health, maltreatment history and placement history), child cognitive functioning, and placement transitions during the course of the study. An additional exploratory aim of the study is to examine intervention effects on first and second grade outcomes for subsamples of children. Group comparisons and longitudinal growth modeling will allow for evaluation of hypotheses.