Secondary prevention as context for assessing change processes in aggressive children

Teacher-identified aggressive children (N = 62) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, both of which involved college student mentors. The experimental condition (PrimeTime) combined therapeutic mentoring, training in problem-solving skills, and consultation with parents and teachers. The comparison treatment (Standard Mentoring) relied solely on the skills of minimally trained, unsupervised mentors. Both interventions lasted 16 months. Our goal was to examine the efficacy of the PrimeTime intervention and the soundness of our model of change. Outcome assessments (at posttreatment and at one-year follow-up) were basted on parent-, teacher-, and peer-reports of children's aggression and others' acceptance, as well as on children's self-rated competence and acceptance by others. Outcome analyses revealed small gains for both treatments and provided only partial support for the efficacy of the PrimeTime intervention. Analyses of change processes supported our conceptual model but also identified iatrogenic effects that may have attenuated the therapeutic impact of PrimeTime. The discussion highlights the importance of testing both intervention efficacy and putative mechanisms of change when evaluating newly developed treatment models, (C) 2000 Society for the Study of School Psychology,Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.