Agenda
Meeting Background
Several studies of prevention programs for young children have shown long-term effects on conduct problems, substance use, juvenile delinquency and arrests, and economic self-sufficiency. While early childhood is an opportune time for fostering children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development to prevent negative developmental trajectories, the use of research-based programs within real world settings for very young children and families, and the development of novel programs for real world settings, continues to be a challenge. The purpose of this meeting is to review existing prevention programs for children 0-5 and their families that are designed to improve child, parent and family outcomes in a variety of domains (e.g., mental health, parenting, education, family functioning), with a particular focus on programs delivered within child service settings. In particular, characteristics of children and families within the settings, the theoretical and conceptual models guiding the programs, and the primary and secondary outcomes of the programs, across developmental periods, and factors that may account for short-term and long-term program effects will be reviewed. In addition, opportunities for advancing the science of early prevention programs for young children through the translation of basic research on self-regulatory processes, including developing novel prevention programs within child service settings, will be examined. Several educational, community and social service program settings for children ages 0-5 will be examined, including Early Head Start and Head Start, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC)—two federal programs for children and their families. Goals of this meeting include identifying critical research gaps that need to be addressed to 1) foster novel program development and 2) increase the uptake and implementation of effective preventive interventions for young children and their families within child service settings, including setting characteristics.
