The Early Risers program is a multicomponent program that targets elementary school children 6 to 12 years of age at high risk for early development of conduct problems, including substance use. Early Risers is based on the premise that early, comprehensive, and sustained intervention is necessary to target multiple risk and protective factors. In May of 2001 the Early Risers "Skills for Success" program was recognized as an exemplary substance abuse prevention program by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs. More recently, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention selected Early Risers as Title V Effective Program and NIDA recognized Early Risers as a NIDA Research Based Program.
Program Background
Over a 10-year period, Early Risers evolved from a school-based intervention delivered by teachers and expert consultants to a community-based intervention delivered by community providers. Several variations of the program now exist, each contextualized to accommodate both urban and rural implementation.
The program includes five basic components:
Evaluation
The intervention was originally tested in a randomized trial. Children were screened for risk (i.e., aggressive behavior) during kindergarten and randomly assigned (nested within schools) to either the program or no-program (i.e., control) conditions. Eighty-two percent of the participants completed the 3-year prevention trial. Rate of attrition and characteristics of those who failed to complete the trial did not differ for program and control groups. Outcome variables were specified that correspond to four global competence domains (i.e., academic competence, social competence, self-regulation, and parent investment), each of which included several specific skills domains. Results showed benefits for both program children and their parents.
Benefits for Children include:
Gains in Academic Achievement: High-risk children receiving the program showed significant improvement in rate of academic achievement with this effect primarily accounted for by gains in basic reading skills. This effect held true for both boys and girls.
Reductions in Self-Regulation Problems: Both program and control children showed reductions in self-regulation problems. However, those program children with the highest level of aggressive behavior showed significant reductions in behavioral problems as compared to their high aggressive control counterparts.
Improved Social Skills and Social Adaptability: High-risk children receiving the program made significant gains in social skills, social adaptability, and leadership following 3 years of intervention.
Benefits for Parents include:
Greater Investment in their Child
Less Personal Distress