Long-Term Efficacy of the Early Risers Conduct Problem Prevention Program: Common Mediated Pathways to Diverse Outcomes

An abundance of evidence suggests that aggressive-disruptive behavior in the early school years is often the common beginning of antisocial trajectories leading to a range of diverse outcomes, including academic failure, peer rejection, alienation from school, substance use, and delinquency (Dobkin, et al., 1995; Hawkins, et al., 1992). To divert children off of this early starter antisocial pathway and onto a more positive developmental trajectory, the Early Risers conduct problems prevention program focuses on promoting academic, behavioral, and social skills in these children and on promoting positive parent-child interactions. Prior research on Early Risers with the present sample showed positive effects of the program on academic achievement, self-regulation, social competence, and peer acceptance (August, et al., 2001; August, et al., 2002; August et al., 2004). The purpose of the current study is to determine the 12^th-grade outcomes of the original study sample, who began the study as kindergartners and experienced 3 years of intensive intervention and 2 years of booster programming. Mental health (symptoms of depression and oppositional defiant disorder) and risky behavior outcomes were assessed, and the mediating role of the program’s proximal effects on social skills and parents’ use of effective discipline was tested.

            The design of the program was guided by the principles of developmental contextualism (Lerner & Kauffman, 1985); thus contextual influences from the peer group, teacher, and parents were addressed. The curricula promoted social and emotional learning and fostered engagement with prosocial peers through a buddy system. In the initial RCT, kindergartners (N = 245; 124 in program; 121 control) from 23 schools in a suburban to semi-rural area in the Midwestern U.S. were selected for the study on the basis of high Aggression scores on the Teacher Report Form (Achenbach, 1991).

            Using multiple imputation to deal appropriately with data missing due to attrition, 20 complete datasets were created through 4000 iterations, multiple regression models were estimated, and parameter estimates and standard errors were combined into a single set of results using Rubin’s (1987) formulas. Results showed that being in the program group was significantly and negatively related to number of symptoms of both oppositional defiant disorder and major depressive disorder at 12^th grade. These effects were mediated by the program’s positive effect on social skills by the end of 3^rd grade (the end of the full-strength intervention). A pathway from program participation through effective discipline by parents to reduced symptoms of ODD also emerged.