Promoting emotional competence in school-aged children: The effects of the PATHS curriculum

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum the emotional development of school-aged children. PATHS, a school-based preventive intervention model was designed to improve children's ability to discuss and understand emotions and emotion concepts. The intervention field trial included 30 classrooms in a randomized design and involved the assessment of 286 children from grades 2 and 3. Approximately 30% of the children were in self-contained special needs classrooms, with the remainder in regular education. Teachers were trained in the intervention model and provided PATHS lessons during most of the one school year. Results indicated that the intervention was effective for both low- and high-risk (special needs) children in improving their range of vocabulary and fluency in discussing emotional experiences, their efficacy beliefs regarding the management of emotions, and their developmental understanding of some aspects of emotions. In some instances, greater improvement was shown in children with higher teacher ratings of psychopathology. Discussion focused on the nature of change school-based prevention trials.

Emotion regulation and understanding: implications for child psychopathology and therapy

“…For example, abused and maltreated children exhibit deficits in the recognition of face expressions of emotion (e.g., Camras, Grow, & Ribordy, 1983;Camras & Rappaport, 1993;Camras et al, 1990;Camras et al, 1988). Maltreated children, children at risk for disruptive behavior disorders, and ''hardto-manage'' preschoolers demonstrated poorly developed understandings of the causes of emotion, for example, by providing fewer appropriate examples of triggers or cues for emotion (e.g., Camras, Sachs-Alter, & Ribordy, 1996;Cook, Greenberg, & Kusche, 1994;Greenberg et al, 1995;Rogosch, Cicchetti, & Aber, 1995;Shipman & Zeman, 1999). In one study of maltreated children, not only was the emotion understanding of the maltreated children lower than nonmaltreated youth but also the mothers of maltreated children were less likely to discuss emotional topics in a mother-child interactions task (Shipman & Zeman, 1999), recalling the important scaffolding role of parents in emotional development.…”

“…And at least two programs that we know of explicitly apply research on emotional development in developing interventions to address childhood maladaptation (see Greenberg et al, 1995;Robinson, Emde, & Korfmacher, 1997). However, most programs do not include such an explicit emotion focus, though as the above example indicates, the programs do not preclude such an emphasis.…”

“…Additionally, assessment of the intervention's impact on emotion processes would yield important information about normative development as well as shedding light on how abnormal development can be redirected. Research along these lines has been conducted by Greenberg et al (e.g., Cook et al, 1994;Greenberg et al, 1995). They developed a prevention model for disruptive behavior problems in preschool youth.…”

A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of an After-School Prosocial Behavior Program in an Area of Socioeconomic Disadvantage

“…These programs are often referred to as social and emotional learning the elementary school journal volume 116, number 1 programs (SEL), social skills training, or behavioral support programs. They are widely used, and some better known examples include PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies; Greenberg, Kusche, Cook, & Quamma 1995), The Incredible Years (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2003), Life Skills Training (Botvin & Griffin, 2002), and the Olweus Bulling Prevention Program (Olweus, Limber, & Mihalic, 1999).…”

Adapting and disseminating effective public health interventions in another country: towards a systematic approach

“…1 -4 However, public health interventions that have proven effective in one country, are also often adapted and disseminated in other countries where they have not been examined. For example, in the area of psychosocial interventions a wide array of interventions has been adapted for use in other countries, such as the JOBS-programme (prevention of psychosocial problems among the unemployed); 5,6 the 'Coping with Depression' course (prevention and early treatment of depressive disorders; 7 -9 the Australian Triple P programme (prevention and treatment of behaviour problems in children); 10,11 Communities that care (community programmes); 12 the PATHS curriculum for prevention of psychosocial problems at school; 13,14 the Nurse Home Visitation for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. 15 Although the adaptation and dissemination of such interventions in another country are common practice, the process by which effective interventions are chosen for adaptation and dissemination is often not conducted systematically.…”