Lifelines

Studies Other Articles in this Issue: Director's Welcome Rights of a Child Editorial on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Interview: George Albee Studies Recommended Readings The social rights of children must be recognized, so that a world suited to their needs may be constructed. -Maria Montessori

What Prevention Studies Show Us The National Advisory Mental Health Council in 1990 estimated that between 12% and 23% of America's children are "having difficulty managing the challenges of development". This data caught the attention of such federal agencies as the Institute of Medicine, and the National Institute of Mental Health and became a growing priority for them. Here we would like to share with you some of the main findings that were made after a review of 34 preventive intervention programs by Greenberg, Domitrovich, and Bumbarger at the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University. This review was submitted to the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The full text can be found on-line at http://www.prevention.psu.edu. · Multi-year programs are more likely to have longer lasting effects than short-term programs. · Ongoing intervention that begins in preschool and continues through the early elementary years may be necessary to reduce morbidity. · Preventive interventions are most effective when dealing with risk factors that include biological, social, and ecological factors in the child, family, and other social situations as well as protective factors, rather than dealing only with the categorical problem behaviors. With this in mind, a coordinated set of programs can target multiple negative outcomes both efficiently and cost-effectively. · Interventions should be aimed at multiple individuals, institutions, and environments. Prevention programs that simultaneously educate the child, and instill positive changes in both the school and home environments; that focus on the behaviors of the child, family and teacher; that take into consideration the relationship between home and school, are the programs believed to be the most effective. No single program component can prevent multiple high-risk behaviors. Each community requires its own set of coordinated, collaborative strategies and programs. For all school-aged children however, the school should be a central focus of intervention. · The integration of systems of treatment with prevention programs will create sustainability for prevention efforts. · Few comprehensive interventions have been developed and evaluated that combine school-wide primary prevention with secondary prevention and treatment.