Community-based resilient peer treatment of withdrawn maltreated preschool children.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate differences in the social play of maltreated and nonmaltreated preschool children and the effectiveness of a resilient peer treatment (RPT) for socially withdrawn victims of physical abuse and neglect. RPT is a peer-mediated classroom intervention based on a developmental-ecological model. It involves pairing withdrawn children with resilient peers in the natural classroom under the supervision of a parent assistant. Forty-six Head Start children, of whom 22 were maltreated, were randomly assigned to RPT and control conditions. Outcome variables were observational categories of social play and standardized teacher ratings. Before treatment, maltreated children were significantly more isolated and less interactive in peer play than nonmaltreated children. RPT resulted in a significant increase in positive interactive peer play and a decrease in solitary play for maltreated and nonmaltreated, socially withdrawn children. Moreover, treatment gains in social interactions were validated 2 months following treatment. Findings are discussed in terms of a developmental-ecological model.

A validation study of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale with urban Hispanic and African American preschool children.

“…This instrument can assist school psychologists in the process of identification of children at risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems. The PIPPS can also help promote mental health by helping psychologists and teachers identify socially competent children who can model appropriate peer interactions for classmates (see Play Buddy Project as described in Fantuzzo et al, 1997). The parent version of the PIPPS (Fantuzzo, Mendez, & Tighe, 1998) should also be translated into Spanish and tested using comparable methods.…”

“…This initial evidence is limited, however, as problem behavior ratings are insufficient to validate complex dimensions of peer play interaction. Additional rating scales that focus on children's interpersonal skill and social competence would enhance our capacity to conduct research and intervention with preschool children (Fantuzzo et al, 1997). An important next step in the validation process of the Spanish PIPPS is to employ observational measures of children's social competence and play behavior to investigate convergent and divergent validity.…”

“…One of the advantages of this instrument is that the scale items were developed with the assistance of teachers and parents of minority preschool children from low-income families to ensure appropriate and meaningful item content. A second advantage is that this measure can be used as an assessment tool to inform school-based intervention programs (see Fantuzzo et al, 1997 for an illustration). The psychometric properties of the scale are also strong, with studies establishing reliability among teachers, parents, and teacher assistants from different educational and ethnic back-grounds, and validity using multiple sources of social competence data (Fantuzzo et al, 1995;Fantuzzo & Coolahan et al, 1998).…”

The effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for maltreated children and adolescents: an evidence synthesis

“…The intervention used in both studies 181,182 was resilient peer treatment (RPT), designed to promote the development of social competencies of preschool children in the context of classroom play mediated by a resourceful peer.…”

“…In Fantuzzo 1996, 182 control group participants were paired with a classmate of average interactive play ability.…”