Untitled

The Role of Preventive Interventions 451Hammond, 1998) promote skills such as conscious strategies for self-control,attention, concentration, and problem-solving that may ultimately aid in the developmentof children’s neurocognitive capabilities. Therefore, preventive interventionssuch as those that teach children developmentally appropriate social skillsand conflict resolution strategies may also strengthen children’s neurocognitiveabilities. In turn, the strengthening of neurocognitive abilities may be related tofurther decreases in children’s problem behaviors. However, more complete testsof models of change that incorporate neurocognitive development, as well as moredirect measures of brain activity (Aguilar et al., 2000; Blair, 2002; Moffitt, 1993),are needed to test this possibility.At present, there is little research investigating neurocognition’s mediationalrole in prevention trials. However, we have been involved in a preventive interventionthat explicitly intends to promote neurocognitive development known asthe Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS; Kusche & Greenberg1994) curriculum. PATHS is a social-emotional learning curriculum that explicitlyattends to models of frontal lobe organization that take into account verticalcontrol and horizontal communication (Kusche, Riggs, &Greenberg, 1999). ThePATHS curriculum includes lessons focusing on readiness and self-control, feelingsand relationships, and interpersonal cognitive problem solving. Previous studiesindicate that PATHS was effective for both low- and high-risk children inimproving the vocabulary and fluency necessary in discussing emotional experiences,efficacy beliefs regarding the management of emotions, and developmentalunderstanding of emotions. Results also indicate that in some cases, greaterimprovement was shown in children with higher teacher ratings of psychopathology(Greenberg, Kusche, Cook, & Quamma, 1995). Finally, there were also significantreductions in both internalizing and externalizing problems in grades 4and 5 up to 2 years after PATHS was implemented in special education populations(Kam, Greenberg, & Kusche, 2003).One study directly tested the mediational model on which PATHS was developed(Riggs, Greenberg, Kusche, & Pentz, in press). This study confirmed direct programeffects on both externalizing and internalizing behaviors in grades 3 and 4 at 1-yearfollow-up. In addition, children in the PATHS program demonstrated significantlygreater inhibitory control and verbal fluency at 9-months posttest. This finding is oneof few that have demonstrated the ability of preventive intervention to promoteneurocognitive functioning in youth. In turn, inhibitory control at 9-months posttestwas negatively related to both externalizing and internalizing behavior, and verbalfluency was negatively related to internalizing behavior. These results add to previousfindings reviewed earlier demonstrating links between neurocognitive functionand problem behavior. Finally, tests of indirect effects verified that these two neurocognitivevariables significantly mediated the relations between program conditionand both domains of behavior problems, with inhibitory control demonstrating thegreatest indirect effects of the two. Figure 20-1 illustrates these relations.