Early Risers

OVERVIEW

The Early Risers “Skills for Success” program aims to reduce aggressive behaviors using a summer program for children as well as a parent education and skills training program. The program targets elementary school children in kindergarten and first grade who exhibit aggressive behaviors to prevent them from developing more serious anti-social behaviors. The CORE program focuses on the children, while the CORE + FLEX adds a parent home-visiting component. Experimental evaluations of Early Risers found significant impacts for children who participated in the child-focused intervention portion of the program on measures of school adjustment and social competence, and for parents on parental stress. Reductions in disruptive behaviors were also noticed among children who were found to be highly aggressive at baseline. Those children who took part in both the child-focused intervention and a separate family-focused program showed a significant decrease in externalizing behavior. Improvements in academic achievement and social skills were also found after two years of intervention; however, after three years (a year after the intervention ended), no impacts were found.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: The program targets elementary school children who exhibit aggressive behaviors and are at risk for more serious anti-social behavior.

The goal of the Early Risers program is to promote positive socio-emotional development into middle childhood and adolescence by targeting younger children who exhibit aggressive behaviors. There are two main components to the Early Risers program; a child-focused intervention (CORE) and a family-focused support and empowerment program (FLEX).

The CORE component consists of an annual 6-week summer program, which includes highly structured physical and educational activities, and a “buddy system” which pairs aggressive children with non aggressive peers for activities to promote development of social skills. CORE also includes an after-school program one day a week and a staff-mentoring program during the school year. The after-school program meets in groups of 9 to12 children and delivers 45 minutes of formal social skills instruction, 30 minutes of guided homework help, and 15 minutes of fun activities. The staff-mentoring program consists of “as needed” mentoring by a staff member designated as a school advocate.

The Early Risers program also provides a family program from October through May each year called FLEX. This family program provides biweekly sessions for parents and children. The parent sessions cover topics such as parent stress management and parenting practices, while the child program addresses topics such as emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and social problem solving.

The FLEX component is a home-visitation program in which families work with family advocates to decide what actions are necessary for family and child wellness. For example, parents receive a family needs assessment and teachers further alliance building.

The program ranges in cost from $1,200 to $2,000 per child, per year. Training for the program runs from three to five days and costs $5,000.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

August, G. J., Lee, S.S., Bloomquist, M. L., Realmuto, G. M., & Hektner, J. M. (2003) Dissemination of an evidence-based prevention innovation for aggressive children living in culturally diverse, urban neighborhoods: The Early Risers effectiveness study. Prevention Science, 4 (4), 271-286

Evaluated population: Participants consisted of 327 first grade and kindergarten children who exhibited aggression using the Aggression Scale of the Child Behavioral Checklist – Teacher Rating Form. Participants were recruited from 10 schools in a large Midwestern metropolitan city and the average age of participants was 6.3. A majority of participants were from poor, African American families and a little less than half came from single parent homes. Children were randomly assigned to receive a child and parent intervention (CORE + FLEX), a child intervention only (CORE), or to a control group. The child intervention only consisted of 107 members, the child and parent intervention consisted of 111 members, and 109 people made up the control group.

Quantitative data were collected from teachers, parents, and children. Data were collected at baseline and twice more following each intervention year. Child academic achievement was assessed in school using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement. Parents completed a questionnaire packet during home visits. Parent measures consisted of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-Parent Rating Scale, the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, the Parenting Stress Index, and the Family Environment Scale. Teachers completed questionnaire packets placed in their school mailboxes, which consisted of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children- Teacher Rating Scale, Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children, and the Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment. Assessment measures gathered information such as externalizing, internalizing and adaptive behavior, cognitive competence, and peer acceptance.

Nineteen per cent of the participants in the program dropped out during the first year and 16 percent dropped out during the second year. There were no baseline differences between those who dropped out and those who persisted with the exception of initial aggression score. On this measure, children in the CORE only group who dropped out had higher aggression scores than those from the control group.

Results of the study at follow-up indicated no differences between the CORE-only and CORE + FLEX groups. As a result, the researchers collapsed data from these two groups and compared the program group to the control group. With regard to academic achievement and school competence, the Early Risers program group did not show improvement over and above that of the control group. Similarly there were no program impacts on externalizing behavior problems however there were non-significant impacts for subgroups. For example, second year impacts among severely aggressive children indicated that children in the program group experienced improvements whereas children in the control group worsened (effect size = .28).

On measures of school adjustment, program children experienced significant improvements above control children by the end of year 2 (effect size = .31). Further, impacts were found for internalizing behavior problems where children in the program group had stable levels and children in the control group had growing internalizing problems (effect size = .23). Parents of children in the control group reported significantly higher parental stress levels than did parents of children receiving either the CORE or CORE + FLEX interventions.

The researchers concluded that the program was effective in producing significant gains in social competence and school adjustment; however effects on externalizing behavior were only found for the most aggressive children.

August, G. J., Realmuto, G. M., Hektner, J. M., & Bloomquist, M. L. (2001). An integrated components preventive intervention for aggressive elementary school children: The Early Risers program. Jounal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 614-626.

August, G. J., Hektner, J.M., Egan, E. A., Realmuto, G. M., & Bloomquist, M.L. (2002). The Early Risers Longitudinal Prevention Trial: Examination of 3-Year Outcomes in Aggressive Children With Intent-to-Treat and As-Intended Analyses. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16 (4S) S27-S39.

Evaluated Population: The evaluated sample included 245 kindergarteners across 20 schools at two regional sites. The kindergartners were identified as at-risk for early-onset aggressive behavior. The schools were located in semi-rural areas with a majority of low to low-middle socioeconomic status Caucasian families. 15.3% of the intervention group and 6.6% of the control group were of a minority ethnicity. Approximately 23% of the participants were in a single parent family.

Approach: At each of the two sites, five schools were randomly assigned to the intervention and five schools to the control group. The intervention students attended the Early Risers summer school program for 4 days a week for 6 weeks during two summers. A group of 30 low-risk children attended the program with the high-risk children. The intervention group received both CORE and FLEX components of the program, as detailed in the “Description of Program” section.

Four main outcomes were measured: academic competence, behavioral self-regulation, and parent investment in the child.

Results: At year 2, the intervention group had significant improvement in academic competence when compared with the control group (effect size = 0.26). There were no significant differences between groups on behavioral self-regulation; however, among children found to be severely aggressive at baseline, the intervention group had significant and positive impacts compared with the control group. There were no significant overall impacts between groups for social competence; however, severely aggressive intervention children showed marginally significant and positive impacts when compared with similar control group children. The measure of parent investment in the child showed no significant differences between groups.

At year 3, the overall intervention had a significant impact on social skills (p=.015) at post-test and these impacts were sustained until year 3 and academic achievement (p=.018), and a marginally significant impact on parental discipline (p=.054). No program impacts were found for children’s aggression, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. Aggression diminished in both groups over time, but neither fell within the normative range at the end of the third year.

August, G. J., Egan, E. A., Realmuto, G. M., & Hektner, J. M. (2003). Four years of the Early Risers early-age-targeted preventive intervention: Effects on aggressive children’s peer relations. Behavior Therapy, 34, 453-470.

Evaluated Population: The evaluated sample consisted of 125 4^th grade children who were randomly assigned at the school level to either a program or a control group. In total, 75 children were randomly assigned to the Early Risers program and 50 children randomly assigned to the control group. Children were eligible for participation if they exhibited moderate to high levels of aggressive behavior. Program participants were selected from a larger sample of children who began the Early Risers program.

Approach: At baseline there were no significant differences between the program and control children. Data were collected from children at baseline and after each intervention year for four years.

Child aggression was measured using parent and teacher measures of child aggression. To measure peer reputations, the researchers used a measure where children assigned their peers to roles in a mock play. Children also reported on how likable their peers were based on whom they would play with. Furthermore, children reported on which of their peers were friends and qualities they looked for in friends.

Results: Results of the study indicated that at the fourth-year assessment, children in the program group exhibited more positive social skills than control children. Specifically, program children were rated by peers higher on reputation status. For instance, children in the program group were rated as having more positive leadership, and social etiquette social role behaviors than control children. Further, program children were less aggressive than controls and their friendships had positive qualities (i.e., companionship and recreation). However, the researchers found no differences on measures of aggressive peer reputation, likeability, social preferences, social impact, and number of mutual friendships.

August, G. J., Lee, S. S., Bloomquist, M. L., Realmuto, G. M., & Hektner, J. M. (2004). Maintenance effects of an evidence-based prevention innovation for aggressive children living in culturally diverse urban neighborhoods: The Early Risers effectiveness study. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 12(4), 194-205.

Evaluated population: 327 kindergarten and first grade children with aggressive behavior from a large, economically disadvantaged, urban Midwestern city. The average age of the children was 6.3 years and 81% of the children were African American, 9% were Caucasian, and 10% were listed as other. Among the children, 45% of them resided in single-parent homes.

Approach: Children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a CORE + FLEX intervention, CORE-only intervention, and a no-treatment control group. Details of the interventions are provided in the “Description of Program” section above.

Children were assessed each spring for three years to provide baseline and 1-year and 2-year data. They were also assessed one year after the intervention ended. Participants were assessed on children’s academic achievement, teacher- and parent-reported child behavior, parenting practices, and family environment.

Results: There were no significant differences on any measures when comparing the three groups. Also, when combining the two intervention groups into one intervention group and comparing that to the control group, there were no significant differences between groups.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

August, G. J., Lee, S. S., Bloomquist, M. L., Realmuto, G. M., & Hektner, J. M. (2003) Dissemination of an evidence-based prevention innovation for aggressive children living in culturally diverse, urban neighborhoods: The Early Risers effectiveness study. Prevention Science, 4 (4), 271-286.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: kindergarten – 4^th grade / Program age ranges in the Guide: 6-11

Program components: clinic-based, provider-based, or miscellaneous; home visiting; mentoring/tutoring; parent or family component; school-based

Measured outcomes: social and emotional health and development; life skills; behavioral problems

KEYWORDS: Aggression/Violence/Externalizing Problems, Black/African American, White/Caucasian, urban, high-risk, children, clinic-based, Conduct/Disruptive Disorders, Early Childhood, elementary, externalizing problems, Home-based, Kindergarten, Life skills, Life Skills Training, middle childhood, School-based, cost

Program information last updated 9/10/2009.

		© Child Trends 2003