The evaluation of an intervention program for young schoolchildren with acting-out problems

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Educational Interventions
• Behavioral Health

Background:

• Acting-out behaviors in school children present significant challenges.
• Effective interventions are needed to support children's behavioral and emotional development.
• Nonprofessional aides can play a role in school-based support systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a training program for nonprofessional child-aides.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of trained aides in helping young, acting-out school children.
• To assess the impact of training on children's behavioral problems and competencies.

Main Methods:

• Program description for training child-aides.
• Pre/post teacher measures of children's problems and competencies.
• Aide and mental health professional behavior change estimates.

Main Results:

• Children with trained aides showed greater reductions in acting-out problems compared to controls.
• Trained aides led to significant decreases in overall maladjustment.
• The training program proved effective in improving children's behavior.

Conclusions:

• Training nonprofessional child-aides is an effective strategy for school-based interventions.
• This program offers a model for optimizing outcomes in clinical interventions for children.
• Further research can explore broader applications of this intervention model.