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Guide
to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth |
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. 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 aggressive program children. Those children that took part in both the child-focused intervention and a separate family-focused program showed a significant decrease in externalizing 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.
Approach: 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.
Participants in the program dropped out at the rate of 19 percent during the first year and 16 percent during the second year. There were no 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: 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 effects on externalizing behavior problems however there were non-significant effects for subgroups. For example, second year effects 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 severe children.
STUDY 2: 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 4th grade children who were randomly assigned at the school level to either a program or a control group.
Approach: 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 pulled from a larger sample of children who began the Early Risers program.
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. Further, 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 rated 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., 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.
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 – 4th 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
Program information last updated 08/17/04.
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© Child Trends 2004 |