SCHOOL-BASED SECONDARY PREVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR - INITIAL OUTCOMES

First through fourth graders from 22 suburban elementary schools were screened for cross-setting disruptive behavior as eligibility criteria for participation in a longitudinal secondary prevention study aimed at reducing the risk for serious externalizing behavioral disorders. T hree hundred nine subjects participated in either a multicomponent com petence enhancement intervention (MCEI) or an information/attention co ntrol (IAC) condition over a 2-year period. Following baseline measure ments, initial intervention effects were assessed at the end of interv ention Year 1, at the beginning of intervention Year 2 (fall of the ne xt school year), and at the end of intervention Year 2. Multisource as sessments were not supportive of the efficacy of the MCEI over the IAC condition. Children in both groups rated themselves as improved over time in terms of increased adaptive skills and decreased school proble ms and internalizing symptoms. Teacher and parent ratings of externali zing behavior did not yield evidence of positive change, but teachers noted improved problem solving and observers noted a decrease in behav ioral interference in both groups over time, possibly as a result of m aturation.