A Multicomponent Preventive Intervention in the Early Elementary Years: A Look at Academic and Social Adjustment Outcomes

Cogent indicated prevention with young children at risk for early onset conduct problems needs to address multiple domains of influence in school and home settings. A multicontextual preventive intervention (MPI) spanning grades one and two was conducted in schools serving economically disadvantaged communities and evaluated separately for boys and girls. The cluster randomized design evaluated children nested within schools receiving either the MPI (6 schools), which consisted of after-school reading-mentoring, home-based family, peer coping-skills, and classroom components, or a control condition (6 schools) involving a school-wide conflict management program without targeted intervention. Drawn at the end of kindergarten based on elevated behavioral difficulties and first-grade attendance at one of the 12 schools, the two subsamples consisted of 193 boys and 171 girls (63% in households with annual income < $15,000; 95% Black children). Extensive fidelity data indicated that the MPI components were well implemented. The two post-intervention third-grade outcomes in this report are academic performance and social/behavioral adjustment. The analyses involved a linear mixed effects model controlling for school. The key finding for the male subsample was that the MPI produced greater overall and language-arts/reading achievement, measured by report cards for the entire third-grade school year, compared with the control group. MPI-control differences did not emerge for externalizing problems and social competence assessed via teacher and parent report. In the face of elevated risk and poverty, the study underscored the importance of contributions from community-based reading-mentors, positive and inclusive classrooms, and nurturing family contexts in achieving academic gains.