Preliminary evaluation of a resiliency-based preschool substance abuse and violence prevention project

The Resilient Children Making Healthy Choices (RCMHC) Project is an early childhood prevention initiative designed to promote health and social competence in young children by training their teachers in skills aimed at nurturing children's resilient development. Through a model program implemented in ten Head Start and other community-based preschool classrooms, teachers were trained in the use and integration of resiliency-based substance abuse/violence prevention strategies in their teaching practices. Analysis of outcome data from a pre-post comparison group design revealed increases in teacher interactional skills designed to enhance children's resiliency, and improvements in children's prosocial behaviors.