IMPACT OF A PREVENTION PROGRAM ON AGGRESSIVE CHILDRENS FRIENDSHIPS AND SOCIAL-ADJUSTMENT

A group of 46 aggressive boys aged 8 to 9 years participated in a prev ention program aimed at reducing their externalizing problems in the s hort term and at preventing delinquency in the long term. Outcome meas ures were collected during the 3-year period following the prevention program. At that time, the boys were 10, 11, and 12 years old. Outcome measures included teacher ratings of aggressiveness and self-reports of delinquent behaviors. The boys' friends were rated on disruptive be haviors by their classmates. The experimental boys' outcome measures w ere compared to the measures obtained from 58 aggressive boys in a con trol group. The disruptive ratings of the experimental and control sub jects' best friends were also compared. Differences in teacher-rated a ggressiveness between the two groups increased from one year to the ne xt for the 3-year followup period. Similarly, the friends' disruptive scores differed increasingly between the two groups over the 3-year pe riod The effect of the prevention program on the subjects' friendships and the mediating impact of friends with regard to social adjustment were stressed