EVALUATING A COGNITIVE ECOLOGICAL PROGRAM FOR THE PREVENTION OF AGGRESSION AMONG URBAN CHILDREN/

The Metropolitan Area Child Study (MACS) is a multifaceted school- and family-based intervention and evaluation study designed to prevent an d understand the development of aggressive behavior. The multifaceted interventions are grounded in combined social-cognitive and ecologic t heories. Social-cognitive theories contend that cognitive scripts, att ributions, and beliefs acquired early in life mediate the effects of e cological factors that influence the development of antisocial behavio r. Prevention programs aimed at these cognitions must address multiple dimensions of the child's environment including family, peer, school, and community, The program has three levels of intervention delivered in two-year segments: (1) Level 1: a general enhancement classroom in tervention that stresses culturally sensitive student and teacher inte raction involving instructional and classroom management strategies an d a social-cognitive curriculum that mitigates aggressive development; (2) Level 2: intensive small-group sessions designed to change childr en's cognitions and enhance peer relationship skills for at-risk child ren added to the general classroom enhancement program; and (3) Level 3: a one-year family relationship intervention that stresses parenting skill building and emotional responsiveness in family interactions ad ded to the general enhancement and small-group training conditions. Si xteen Chicago-area schools are randomly assigned. (few each) to a cont rol group or one of the three intervention levels. Individual child as sessments, peer assessments, classroom behavioral observations, and ar chival data are collected before the interventions begin, during the i nterventions, at the end of each intervention, and at a follow-up poin t. The pretests indicate that the children on average have higher leve ls of aggression than found nationally and elevated clinical levels of other psychopathologies. Across the four intervention levels there ar e no significant differences in ethnic composition, socioeconomic stat us (SES), aggressive behavior, and normative beliefs about aggression. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): aggression, intervention studies.