Prevention Intervention

Accumulating evidence documenting the long-term benefits of preschool attendance fuels hope that improving access to high quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve the school adjustment and attainment of all children, particularly those who are most vulnerable (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Participation in high-quality ECE is linked with a host of long-term academic and mental health benefits, including improved school adjustment and a decreased need for special education services (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2000; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001). Unfortunately, many ECE programs are only mediocre in quality (Child Care Aware of America, 2013), with insufficient opportunities for professional development to help teaching staff implement evidence-based practices that effectively address children's mental health needs. This is a particularly time-sensitive concern, as an increasing proportion of American children are at-risk for school readiness delays, due to increases in the numbers of preschool children growing up in low income families (44%) in the United States (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2011). Children growing up under these conditions are particularly likely to experience heightened exposure to stress and adversity that produces delays in development of the social-emotional and self-regulation skills needed for school success (Blair & Raver, 2012). For these reasons, the focus of this special issue is particularly important and timely. Developing and testing preschool interventions that address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of young children who have mental health issues is a national priority. In this commentary, we highlight key issues that emerged across the four papers included in

Background: Resilience is a person's mental ability to deal with challenging situations adaptively and is a crucial stress management skill. Psychological resilience and finding ways to cope in crises is a highly relevant topic considering the COVID-19 pandemic, which enforced quarantine, social distancing measures, and school closures worldwide. Parents and children are currently living with increased stress due to COVID-19. We need to respond with immediate ways to strengthen children's resilience. Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy interventions for children's stress management overcome accessibility issues such as the inability to visit mental health experts owing to COVID-19 movement restrictions. An interactive learning environment was created, based on the preventive program "Friends," to overcome accessibility issues associated with delivering cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions in formal and informal education settings. Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a web-based learning environment on resilience in (1) reducing anxiety symptoms and (2) increasing emotion recognition and recognition of stress management techniques among 9-10-year-old children. We also aimed to evaluate the learning environment's usability. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used. In total, 20 fourth graders in the experimental group interacted with the learning environment over 6 weekly 80-minute sessions. Further, 21 fourth graders constituted the control group. The main data sources were (1) a psychometric tool to measure children's anxiety symptoms, namely the Greek translation of the original Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, (2) 3 open-ended questions assessing emotion recognition and recognition of stress management techniques, and (3) the System Usability Scale to measure the usability of the learning environment. Results: In both groups, there was a small but nonsignificant postintervention reduction in reported anxiety symptoms, except for obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in the experimental group. A paired samples t test revealed that students' reported symptom scores of obsessive-compulsive disorder significantly decreased from 1.06 (SD 0.68) to 0.76 (SD 0.61) (t 19 = 5.16; P=.01). The experimental group revealed a significant increase in emotion recognition (t 19 =-6.99; P<.001), identification of somatic symptoms of stress (t 19 =-7.31; P<.001), and identification of stress management techniques (t 19 =-6.85; P<.001). The learning environment received a satisfactory usability score. The raw average system usability score was 76.75 (SD 8.28), which is in the 80th percentile rank and corresponds to grade B. Conclusions: This study shows that interactive learning environments might deliver resilience interventions in an accessible and cost-effective manner in formal education, potentially even in distance-learning conditions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Interactive learning environments on resilience are also valuable tools for parents who can use them with their children at home,

We examined the stability of and cross-influences between externalizing behaviors and intervention engagement among children participating in a randomized clinical trial of an intervention for disruptive behavioral youth. Analyses also accounted for the influence of caregiver depression, family relationship quality, and sociodemographic factors (race, income) on the relationship between behaviors and intervention engagement. Analyses were based on 118 children participating in the Coping Power intervention. Composite variables were created to represent externalizing behaviors and intervention engagement constructs. Associations between these composite variables were examined over 24 treatment sessions. Findings indicated a regressive relationship among externalizing behaviors, i.e., baseline externalizing behaviors were positively associated with immediate follow-up behaviors. There were also dynamic relationships observed among engagement constructs. Notably, engagement with in-session activities during sessions 1-8 was positively associated with out-of-session activity engagement during the same treatment time period. Engagement with out-of-session activities during sessions 1-8 was positively associated with in-session activity engagement during sessions 9-16, indicating a complete mediation between early and middle in-session engagement through the mechanism of early out-of-session engagement. A crosslag relationship was observed: middle in-session engagement was negatively associated with externalizing behaviors at immediate follow-up. Finally, an interaction of race by income on immediate follow-up externalizing behaviors was observed, such that Black children's externalizing behaviors remain static regardless of income level while White children's behaviors decreased with higher income. Our findings support the contention that focusing on intervention engagement may be especially important in prevention interventions.

The injustice of gentrification is often reduced to residential displacement and the loss of affordable housing. Yet, in addition to physical displacement of residents, gentrification also displaces community histories, social ties, and spaces of cultural gathering and civic action. The Neighborhood Story Project is a participatory action research intervention designed to engage residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in addressing more than the material effects of gentrification. This multicase study of three Neighborhood Story Projects finds that participants experienced gains in (1) place knowledge and attachments, (2) social relationships, and (3) self and collective efficacy. Findings from this multi-case study suggest a broad practice model for group-level interventions to advance justice in gentrifying neighborhoods.

Evidence-based preventive interventions developed over the past two decades represent great potential for enhancing public health and well-being. Research confirming the limited extent to which these interventions have been broadly and effectively implemented, however, indicates much progress is needed to achieve population-level impact. In part, progress requires Type 2 translation research that investigates the complex processes and systems through which evidence-based interventions are adopted, implemented, and sustained on a large scale, with a strong orientation toward devising empirically-driven strategies for increasing their population impact. In this article, we

Evidence-based preventive interventions developed over the past two decades represent great potential for enhancing public health and well-being. Research confirming the limited extent to which these interventions have been broadly and effectively implemented, however, indicates much progress is needed to achieve population-level impact. In part, progress requires Type 2 translation research that investigates the complex processes and systems through which evidence-based interventions are adopted, implemented, and sustained on a large scale, with a strong orientation toward devising empirically-driven strategies for increasing their population impact. In this article, we

The injustice of gentrification is often reduced to residential displacement and the loss of affordable housing. Yet, in addition to physical displacement of residents, gentrification also displaces community histories, social ties, and spaces of cultural gathering and civic action. The Neighborhood Story Project is a participatory action research intervention designed to engage residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in addressing more than the material effects of gentrification. This multicase study of three Neighborhood Story Projects finds that participants experienced gains in (1) place knowledge and attachments, (2) social relationships, and (3) self and collective efficacy. Findings from this multi-case study suggest a broad practice model for group-level interventions to advance justice in gentrifying neighborhoods.

The growing number of studies in the field of prevention science and related advancements in evidence based programs leads to some discussions about the fundamental issues such as efficacy, effectiveness, dissemination, adaptation, fidelity and continuity in recent years. In this article it is intended to report the common views of early childhood preventive intervention program and also to discuss how implementation, adaptation, and dissemination process must be conducted to reach high effectiveness of the program. Moreover the recent progress on common prevention interventions is presented by emphasizing the similarities and differences between Turkey and other countries. Finally, it will provide an insight and intuitive perspective for further studies in prevention science field in early childhood education.

Evidence-based preventive interventions developed over the past two decades represent great potential for enhancing public health and well-being. Research confirming the limited extent to which these interventions have been broadly and effectively implemented, however, indicates much progress is needed to achieve population-level impact. In part, progress requires Type 2 translation research that investigates the complex processes and systems through which evidence-based interventions are adopted, implemented, and sustained on a large scale, with a strong orientation toward devising empirically-driven strategies for increasing their population impact. In this article, we

C ultural adaptation of evidence-based programmes has gained importance primarily owing to its perceived impact on the established effectiveness of a programme. To date, many researchers have proposed different frameworks for systematic adaptation process. This article presents the cultural adaptation of preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum for Pakistani children using the heuristic framework of adaptation (Barrera & Castro, 2006). The study was completed in four steps: information gathering, preliminary adaptation design, preliminary adaptation test and adaptation refinement. Feedbacks on programme content suggested universality of the core programme components. Suggested changes were mostly surface structure: language, presentation of materials, conceptual equivalence of concepts, training needs of implementation staff and frequency of programme delivery. In-depth analysis was done to acquire cultural equivalence. Pilot testing of the outcome measures showed strong internal consistency. The results were further discussed with reference to similar work undertaken in other cultures.

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Objective: The increased life expectancy of people living with HIV has brought about an increase in serodiscordant couples, in which there is risk of HIV transmission. Therefore, interventions that promote sexual health and reduce risk are critical to develop for these couples. Given the disproportionate burden of HIV among populations of color, it is also critical that these interventions are culturally congruent. The EBAN intervention for African American serodiscordant couples recognizes the centrality of culture in shap­ing sexual behaviors and helps couples develop intimacy and positive prevention behaviors. The analytic objective of our study was to examine the knowledge and awareness gained by participants in the intervention.Participants: Participants (n=17) who com­pleted at least half of the eight intervention sessions.Methods: Brief post-implementation semi-structured interviews were conducted be­tween January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Team-based, targeted content an...

Accumulating evidence documenting the long-term benefits of preschool attendance fuels hope that improving access to high quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve the school adjustment and attainment of all children, particularly those who are most vulnerable (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Participation in high-quality ECE is linked with a host of long-term academic and mental health benefits, including improved school adjustment and a decreased need for special education services (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2000; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001). Unfortunately, many ECE programs are only mediocre in quality (Child Care Aware of America, 2013), with insufficient opportunities for professional development to help teaching staff implement evidence-based practices that effectively address children's mental health needs. This is a particularly time-sensitive concern, as an increasing proportion of American children are at-risk for school readiness delays, due to increases in the numbers of preschool children growing up in low income families (44%) in the United States (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2011). Children growing up under these conditions are particularly likely to experience heightened exposure to stress and adversity that produces delays in development of the social-emotional and self-regulation skills needed for school success (Blair & Raver, 2012). For these reasons, the focus of this special issue is particularly important and timely. Developing and testing preschool interventions that address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of young children who have mental health issues is a national priority. In this commentary, we highlight key issues that emerged across the four papers included in

Delivering evidence-based prevention programs within school settings has the potential to reduce problem behaviors and enhance youth well-being. Moreover, delivering interventions within school settings may reach those youth who would otherwise not receive support. Schools hold the potential to provide effective services to address students’ academic, behavioral, emotional, and social needs. However, the implementation of these comprehensive, evidence-based programs is an ongoing challenge within schools. While most school-based prevention programs target individual students’ behaviors, students are nested within classrooms and schools, which are in turn nested within broader school districts and communities. Even when the larger systemic issues are not part of the intervention, they can nonetheless have important effects on the process of implementation and student outcomes. This chapter reviews the current state of the implementation quality of school-based evidence-based preventi...

This commentary on the special section, "Implementation research in early childhood education," discusses 10 major conclusions drawn from implementation research and 7 additional issues needing clarification. Some major conclusions are that: (1) the level of implementation achieved can have a strong influence on program outcomes, (2) implementation is a multi-dimensional construct, (3) adaptation occurs frequently and may improve outcomes, and (4) many factors present across multiple ecological levels can affect the implementation process. Some of the major issues needing attention in future research involve determining what are the best ways to (1) measure the multiple aspects of implementation, (2) evaluate the relative importance of factors affecting implementation, and (3) clarify which participant characteristics may influence the relationship between implementation and different outcomes.

Children's interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills may be related to their social adjustment; if so, specific interventions could increase both such skills and adjustment. tilt.5-analyses were performed to examine reported relationships between interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills and adjustment, and reported effects of training. Boundary conditions were also examined.

Keywords The aim of the study was to determine preschool children's interpersonal problem solving skills and the factors affecting these skills in detail. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used conjunctively and the research was planned in accordance with "screening model". This research is a descriptive research that enquired the current situation. The study group was comprised of 152 children selected from 10 kindergartens attached to the Ministry of Education in the province of Giresun. The children participating in the study were chosen by random sampling method. To collect data of the study, Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory (IPSI) developed by Özdil (2008) was used. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used to make interviews with teachers and parents. In this research, data were collected from three different participants, namely from preschool children in the case of quantitative data analysis and from teachers and families in the case of qualitative data analysis. After analyzing the data from Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory, the children who got the lowest score were determined based on the results of the analysis. Then, interviews were conducted with classroom teachers and parents of these children to obtain in-depth information. Content analysis and the ANOVA test were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data of the research, respectively. Considering the results of the study, it is apparent that quantitative and qualitative data are consistent with each other. Significance was detected as a result of the statistical analysis performed between time spent by children watching TV and their parental structures and their interpersonal problem-solving skills, while teachers and parents of children were found to focus on their parental structure and time spent by them watching TV. Teachers expressed their views about behavioral problems of children with interpersonal problem solving problem as aggression, verbal threats, not sharing, not participating in group activities, crying and maternal/paternal dependency, and the parents expressed their views under themes of aggression, verbal threats, crying and maternal / paternal dependency. Problem solving Interpersonel Preschool Article Info

This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC) using a single-case experimental design. PTR-YC is a manualized intervention designed to address challenging behaviors for children in preschool and childcare settings using the framework of positive behavior support. Participants included three preschool-aged children who were receiving special education services in public preschool classrooms. As hypothesized, the use of PTR-YC resulted in two primary effects, including a decrease in challenging behaviors and an increase in desirable behaviors across all three cases. Secondary data revealed favorable increases in prosocial (or positive) interactions between teacher and child for all three cases. PTR-YC interventions were also associated with high rates of perceived social validity. Implications for the use of PTR-YC in preschool settings are discussed along with considerations for the importance of coaching to increase fidelity and the effect on teacher–child interactions.

The high-risk behaviours of pre-schoolers, which may cause more serious problems in adolescences' period, can be prevented or reduced by well-structured educational programmes. In the light of this approach, this study describes the effectiveness of the Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving Programme (ICPS), on developing cognitive problem-solving skills of Turkish preschool children. One-group pre-test–post-test design was used to examine the problem-solving skills of 45 children. The findings show that ICPS has a significant effect on developing problem-solving skills of preschool children. Moreover, the ICPS-trained children were significantly effective to resolve problems with peers and adults. There was no significant difference between boys and girls regarding to their interpersonal problem-solving skills.

Abstract
Problem Statement: Because of innovations in science, technology, the media
and changing lifestyles, the quality of education and the socio-cultural
backgrounds of families play an important role in the problem-solving
skills of children. How and to what extent negative or positive life
experiences which are carried out by rapid changes through life would
affect alternative problem solving thinking skills of children.
Purpose of the Study: This studyaimed to assess whether or not the rapid
changes and the progress in education affect the number of solutions
related to the interpersonal problem-solving skills of children. The
categories of the solution also were examined that children propose more
socially accepted solutions with prosocial categories rather than those with
violence categories.
Methods: Two different groups of participants were compared in this study.
The sample of the first study conducted in 1994 consisted of 74 children (34
girls, 40 boys) who attended public preschools (Dinçer, 1995). The sample
of the second study conducted in 2004 consisted of 56 children (26 girls, 30
boys) attending two private and public preschools (Anlıak, 2004). The
Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Test (Shure, 1992), which took 20-
30 minutes to complete individually, was used by well-trained testors to
evaluate the alternative thinking skills of children.
Findings and Results: The findings of the PIPS Test indicate that there was a
significant increase in the number of categories and solutions proposed by
children when compared to the findings of the first group, ten years ago.
Although the numbers of solutions and categories concerning peer- and
mother-related problems were high in total, it was observed that
statistically there was not a significant increase in the total number of
solutions concerning peer-related problems.
When the categories that the children used to solve interpersonal problems
were examined, we observed that today’s children use the categories of
Loan and Physical Attack on Person for peer problems and the categories
of Replace, Repair, Authority Aid, and Hide for mother-related problems.
Conclusions and Recommendations: These findings show that it would be
beneficial to enrich preschool education in Turkey in terms of interpersonal
cognitive problem-solving skills. In other words, preschool education
programs need to be supported with activities that systematically help
children to gain these skills.
Keywords: Interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills, social skills,
preschool, prevention.

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies
(PATHS) - Preschool Curriculum on Preschool Children’s Social Skills. The six years old children
(N= 95) and their teachers (N=7) were included in participant group in İzmir. With a pretest-intervention-
posttest design, data was collected through Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies
Preschool Evaluation Kit, Kusche Emotional Inventory, Head Start Competence Scale–Teacher
Version, Teaching Style Rating Scale, Classroom Atmosphere Rating Scale. The evaluation findings
indicated that (i) the training effects were large for increasing concentration and attention skills
F(1,93)= 6.24*, p 05) and social emotional competence (F(1,93)= 11.69*, p 05; F(1,93)= 29.23**, p
001); (ii) reducing aggression and distruptive behaviors (F(1,93)= 7.06**, p 001); (iii) no significant
intervention effects could be detected on any emotion knowledge skills (F(1,84)= 10.80). However, as
compared to the control group, it was found that (iv) the intervention improved the level of children’s
compliance, cooperation, problem solving, feeling expression (F(1,93)= 29.23**, p 001.), and (v) the
level of teachers’ discipline strategies, emotional support, problem solving, and preventing misbehavior
F(1,5)= 8.24*, p 05; F(1,5)= 30.42**, p 001; F(1,5)= 31.20**, p 001; F(1,5)= 35.07**, p 001).
At the end of the study, it was found that PATHS-Preschool was an effective program in terms of
improvement of children’s social emotional competence and to lay groundwork for a comprehensive
evaluation of the program as a preventive intervention for Turkish children.

The growing number of studies in the field of prevention science and related advancements in evidence based
programs leads to some discussions about the fundamental issues such as efficacy, effectiveness, dissemination,
adaptation, fidelity and continuity in recent years. In this article it is intended to report the common views of
early childhood preventive intervention program and also to discuss how implementation, adaptation, and dissemination
process must be conducted to reach high effectiveness of the program. Moreover the recent progress
on common prevention interventions is presented by emphasizing the similarities and differences between
Turkey and other countries. Finally, it will provide an insight and intuitive perspective for further studies in prevention
science field in early childhood education.