PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING RESILIENCE IN DISADVANTAGED-CHILDREN

This article addresses the emergence of a resilience-based prevention practice perspective that focuses on positively affecting the developm ent of disadvantaged, at-risk children. Significant progress has been made in understanding risk and resilience processes; however, use of t he field's advances in applied settings has lagged. The article will a ttempt to bridge this gap by reviewing relevant issues in program desi gn, implementation, and evaluation from a resilience perspective. Risk and resilience dynamics are briefly highlighted to illuminate theoret ical routes for promoting positive adaptation. Trends in constructing preventive programs are underscored, focusing on ecological routes to behavioral and environmental change. Finally, prevention and early int ervention programs for disadvantaged children ages 3-9 illustrate issu es in program conception and effectiveness. Methodological concerns in evaluation of these programs are discussed, and future recommendation s are given.