A prevention program for children experiencing life crisis.

Describes the development and evaluation of a preventively oriented crisis intervention program for young children. 57 primary grade children who were experiencing the crisis-predisposing events of parental death, divorce or remarriage, major elective surgery, or birth of a sibling were seen by trained nonprofessional child-aides in the school setting. Child-aides employed abreactive and problem-solving techniques during twice weekly meetings with Ss over a 6 wk period. Program Ss showed significant improvement on measures of school adjustment problems and competencies (Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale, Health Resources Inventory) and the State-Trait Anxiety Index for Children. Analyses indicate that the program was most effective with Ss for whom the life events seemed most crisis precipitating. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)