Herbert H. Severson

First Step to Success An Early Intervention Approach for Preventing School Antisocial Behavior

This article reports results of a 4-year study designed to develop and initially evaluate a combined home and school intervention approach to preventing school antisocial behavior. The First Step to Success program targets at-risk kindergartners who show the early signs of an antisocial pattern of behavior (e.g., aggression, oppositional-defiant behavior, severe tantrumming, victimization of others). First Step to Success consists of three interconnected modules: (a) proactive, universal screening of all kindergartners; (b) school intervention involving the teacher, peers, and the target child; and (c) parent/caregiver training and involvement to support the childs school adjustment. The major goal of the program is to divert at-risk kindergartners from an antisocial path in their subsequent school careers. Two cohorts of at-risk kindergartners, consisting of 24 and 22 students, were identified and exposed to the First Step to Success program during the 1993–1994 and 1994–1995 school years, respectively. A randomized, experimental, wait-list control-group design was used to evaluate intervention effects. Cohort 1 and 2 subjects were followed up through Grades 2 and 1, respectively, with differing teachers and peer groups. Results indicated a measurable intervention effect for both cohorts and persistence of gains into the primary grades.

Drug Abuse Prevention Programming: Do We Know What Content Works?

This article summarizes the theoretical underpinnings, substantive contents, and limitations of comprehensive social-influences-based drug abuse prevention programming. This type of programming has produced the most consistently successful preventive effects. There is some evidence that one major part of these programs, changing social norms, is an essential ingredient for successful drug abuse prevention programming. Research suggests that these effects may not be contingent on the use of refusal assertion training, a prototype activity of social-influences-based prevention programs. Because programs, when disseminated to the public, often contain only a subset of lessons from the social influences curriculum, there remains the potential error of implementing a combination of lessons that may not be effective. Further, there is evidence that other types of prevention programming, such as physical consequences programming, may be successful in some situations. Finally, social-influences-based programming may not be as effective with some subpopulations such as high-risk youths.

Replication of the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) Procedure for the Identification of At-Risk Children

The Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) procedure was implemented by 58 teachers within a series of elementary schools in the state of Utah; a total of 1,446 elementary-school children were screened in this process. The focus of this investigation was upon replication of the procedural integrity and outcomes of the SSBD screening-identification procedure for children with school-related behavior disorders. The study results indicated that the SSBD could accurately and efficiently identify children in need of special services, thus confirming results of prior research. In addition, it was shown that the SSBD was viewed as cost efficient by its school-based users primarily because it (a) required less professional time than traditional school referral and assessment processes, and (b) allowed for the systematic, proactive screening of all students. The SSBD procedure also was preferred as an initial screening device by the majority of participating teachers and related-services professionals involved in its implementation.

The Early Screening Project for Young Children with Behavior Problems.

Behavioral problems among preschool-age children have become a priority for early childhood educators. Factors such as the exponential rise in childcare utilization and increasing poverty and incidences of child abuse have made the establishment of procedures for the early identification and remediation of problem behaviors among preschool children imperative. Screening is an initial step in identifying those who exhibit a certain disorder, problem, or disability. The goal of the current research was to study the effectiveness of a functional screening and identification system for behavior problems among preschool children ages 3 to 5 years. This research focused on the development of the Early Screening Project (ESP), a multiple-gated screening system adapted from the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders. Data were collected over 32 months, from September 1991 through June 1994. Participants were 2,853 children, ages 3 to 6 years, enrolled in typical and special education preschool and kindergarten classrooms in Oregon, California, Texas, Utah, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and Louisiana. Concurrent validity was assessed by administering the Behar Preschool Behavior Questionnaire, the Conners Teacher Rating Scale, and Achenbachs Child Behavior Checklist measures. Results demonstrated significant reliability and validity coefficients. The ESP procedure provides reliable, cost-effective, and accurate screening of preschool-age children to facilitate early remediation of behavior problems.

Smoking treatment strategies, expectancy outcomes, and credibility in attention‐placebo control conditions

Assessed credibility of the rapid smoking procedure, covert sensitization a combined approach, satiation, and a relaxation technique in a group of 38 self-reported cigarette smokers. The results suggested that while sex is not a factor in credibility ratings, different treatment strategies do elicit varying degrees of confidence in terms of positive treatment expectances. Scheffés method of posttest comparisons revealed that satiation was least preferred, while the relaxation procedure was rated the highest in credibility. The other aversive treatment strategies did not differ significantly from either the relaxation or satiation procedures. These findings are discussed as they relate to credibility as a nonspecific treatment variable that smoking researchers may effectively manipulate through a rating procedure in creating a more sound experimental design in attention-placebo control conditions.

CARDIOVASCULAR STRESS DURING THE RAPID-SMOKING PROCEDURE

The effect of the rapid-smoking procedure on heart rate, blood pressure, and peripheral skin temperature as a measure of vasoconstriction was assessed for 6 women and 4 men who participated in a week long clinic. An analysis of heart rate, blood pressure, and skin temperature taken before, during, and after the procedure yielded a statistically significant effect across all three measures. The results are discussed in terms of their significance when compared to normal cigarette smoking and as they relate to the ethical issue raised in recommending this procedure based on these results.