Social Development Interventions Research Articles

Summaries invited

This systematic review summarizes the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the experiences and outcomes for childhood cancer survivors (CCS).We performed a structured literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, CINHAL, ERIC, and PsychoInfo from 1995 to 2017. Studies were included if they (1) described or evaluated a psychosocial, transition, educational, physical activity, or health behavior modification intervention provided to childhood cancer survivors (CCS); (2) presented original empirical research; (3) were published between January 1, 1995 and September 13, 2017; and (4) were full articles, published in English.Twenty-nine articles met our inclusion criteria. The articles covered five main types of interventions: social skills development, physical activity, workbooks, education, and web-based interventions. Study participants found that overall interventions were useful and showed potential to improve health behaviors for CCS.Many of the interventions reviewed were helpful to patients and their families; however, most were at a pilot project stage and evidence for their long-term effectiveness was limited across all studies.

A Ten-Year-Old’s Use of Creative Content to Construct an Alternative Future for Herself

A Ten-Year-Old’s Use of Creative Content to Construct an Alternative Future for Herself

Universal community-based social development interventions for preventing community violence by young people 12 to 18 years of age

Reason for withdrawal from publication The Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Editorial Team has withdrawn this protocol as it was published more than two years ago.

The effects of a social and talent development intervention for high ability youth with social skill difficulties

Contemporary models highlight the need to cultivate cognitive and psychosocial factors in developing domain-specific talent. This model was the basis for the current study where high ability youth with self-reported social difficulties (n = 28, 12 with a coexisting disability) participated in a social skills and talent development intervention over the course of a two-week summer enrichment program. Compared to high ability youth not in the social skills intervention (n = 9), participants reported positive changes in friendship qualities (help), indicating a treatment effect. Among all participants, positive changes were reported in friendship companionship and security, suggesting the talent development program alone had significant impact on psychosocial factors (friendship qualities). For those in the social skills group, higher scores on performance approach goal orientations were related to lower change scores in friendship closeness, suggesting if one is driven academically to outperform peers, this may negatively affect their ability to form close ties with peers.

Role of Microfinance Institutions in Social Development

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) work towards financial inclusion, livelihood sustainability through micro-enterprises and social development to empower the marginalized sections of communities across the globe. This paper is a modest effort to understand the unique role of MFIs in social development especially in Indian context. Although providing financial services is the primary goal of MFIs, these small institutions have tried to make a big difference in the lives of the poor by various interventions revolving around social development of marginalized sections. MFIs in India have been involved in capacity building, financial literacy, livelihood promotion, preventive healthcare, education and training, water and sanitation, etc. The paper provides a comprehensive review of some of the interventions triggered by MFIs in India so as to empower the people living on the fringes without any hope of redemption. Besides, the paper also emphasises the need for providing financial incentives to the MFIs engaged in social development of the poor by the state agencies as well as large banks which are supporting these institutions. Financial inclusion alone cannot empower the poor. It is important that the MFIs expand their social development interventions in terms of reach, quality, and overall impact on the people who are living on the margins.

Evidence synthesis in international development: a critique of systematic reviews and a pragmatist alternative

Systematic reviews are an instrument of Evidence-Based Policy designed to produce comprehensive, unbiased, transparent and clear assessments of interventions’ effectiveness. From their origins in medical fields, systematic reviews have recently been promoted as offering important advances in a range of applied social science fields, including international development. Drawing on a case study of a systematic review of the effectiveness of community mobilisation as an intervention to tackle HIV/AIDS, this article problematises the use of systematic reviews to summarise complex and context-specific bodies of evidence. Social development interventions, such as ‘community mobilisation’ often take different forms in different interventions; are made successful by their situation in particular contexts, rather than being successful or unsuccessful universally; and have a rhetorical value that leads to the over-application of positively valued terms (e.g. ‘community mobilisation’), invalidating the keyword search process of a systematic review. The article suggests that the policy interest in definitive summary statements of ‘the evidence’ is at odds with academic assessments that evidence takes multiple, contradictory and complex forms, and with practitioner experience of the variability of practice in context. A pragmatist philosophy of evidence is explored as an alternative. Taking this approach implies expanding the definition of forms of research considered to be ‘useful evidence’ for evidence-based policy-making; decentralising decisions about ‘what works’ to allow for the use of local practical wisdom; and prioritising the establishment of good processes for the critical use of evidence, rather than producing context-insensitive summaries of ‘the evidence’.

The impact of social action funds on child health in a conflict affected country: Evidence from Angola

Although recent evidence shows significant and long-lasting detrimental effects of armed conflict on child health, there is lack of studies rigorously assessing the effectiveness of different social and economic development interventions aiming to mitigate the impact of armed conflict on child health. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this study assesses the impact of health projects and water, sanitation, and waste management interventions financed by the Angola Social Action Fund (ASAF) from 1994 to 2001 on child health. I use data from Inquérito aos Agregados Familiares sobre Despesas e Receitas 2000/2001(IDR 2001), a household survey on expenditures and incomes conducted between February 2000 and February 2001 in Angola. IDR 2001 uses a stratified sampling design in which 12 households were surveyed in a random fashion in each aldeia (village) in rural areas and bairro (neighborhood) in urban areas. Using propensity score matching, a fixed effects model, and propensity-based weighted regression, I find that ASAF leads to a statistically significant increase of the height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) by 0.335 standard deviations of children less than 5 years. This finding is robust to different implementations of the propensity score model specification and when conducting the sensitivity analysis of hidden bias. The main result that emerges from an analysis of heterogeneous effects shows that ASAF has no impact on children living in war displaced households. Despite many challenges faced by conflict affected countries, social funds which are one the key instruments of the World Bank used to promote development at the local level can be used to mitigate the impact of armed conflict on child health. For children living in war displaced households, specific interventions should be designed to mitigate the impact of armed conflict.

Using the Community Readiness Model as an Approach to Formative Evaluation

This article presents an adapted version of an established model for assessing community readiness along with an illustrative case example from the evaluation of Positive Action, a school-based social and character development intervention, implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial in Chicago Public Schools from 2004 through 2010. Community readiness is an emerging assessment approach that can be used to gauge the level of understanding, desire, and ownership that community members have regarding a community problem and/or intervention. This approach is useful in engaging the community and leveraging particular aspects of readiness that the community may exhibit in order to maximize an intervention's successful implementation. The article concludes with a discussion of ways in which a community readiness model may be useful in health promotion practice, both in schools and in other community settings.

The Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Infant Attention

The development of visual attention is a key component of cognitive functioning in infancy and childhood. By the time children in poverty reach school, deficits in attention are readily apparent; however, when these attention delays manifest is unknown. The current study tested attention longitudinally at 6, 9 and 12 months in infants from high‐socio‐economic status (SES) and low‐SES families. Infants were tested in a free play attention task in both simple and complex conditions, and two measures each of attention and inattention were scored. High‐SES infants showed greater attention overall and greater increases in attention when the stimuli were more complex. Low‐SES infants showed higher inattention than their high‐SES peers at all ages and were less likely to modulate their attention on the basis of stimulus complexity. Thus, by 6 months of age, low‐income infants already show deficits in attention. Results are discussed in terms of adaptability, implications for social development and attention interventions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Social development needs assessment in China: lessons from an international collaborative field school in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region

We explore the potential for rural and urban community needs assessment research in China, particularly in response to increasing rural to urban internal migration. Models for migration and community development are presented. We identify various methods that can inform social development planning, intervention, and evaluation. A collaborative community development field school in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was conducted with US and Chinese students and faculty. Plans for, and initial results of, a qualitative rural needs assessment are described. A semi‐structured urban resident needs assessment survey and the results of a small pilot study are presented. Challenges of international collaboration and implications and suggestions are reviewed. 本文探索了在中国农村和城市社区进行需求评估研究的潜力，特别是在回应不断增加的城乡人口流动。作者描述了各种移民和社会发展模式，并确定了几项可用于社会发展规划，干预和评估的方法。作者在广西壮族自治区建立了一所由美国和中国的学生和教员合作的社会发展田野考察学校，并描述了计划的内容和初步结果。作者在文中描述了一个评估城市居民需求的半组织性调查和一个小型试验研究的结果，并探讨国际合作所面对的挑战，影响和建议。

Intervention Program Gives Kids More Than a Head Start

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull AccessIntervention Program Gives Kids More Than a Head StartJoan Arehart-TreichelJoan Arehart-TreichelSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:16 Jan 2009https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.44.2.0010aSome studies have found that Head Start, the federally run program designed to improve the academic performance of low-income preschoolers, has made a long-term difference in the lives of many since its creation 44 years ago. Now a different, more expansive intervention that targets older disadvantaged children in first through sixth grades, is also promising long-lasting rewards.The name of the private sector-developed intervention—under study for more than two decades —is the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP). The long-term research effort was launched in 1981 by principal investigator J. David Hawkins, Ph.D., the endowed professor of prevention at the University of School of Washington Social Work, and his research team.The SSDP's intervention consists of teaching the teachers and the parents of disadvantaged pupils how to help these children achieve not just academic success, but also to help them appreciate the importance of sexual education and maintaining optimum mental health—for example, how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, how to avoid substance abuse, and how to avoid antisocial behaviors.To determine the efficacy of the intervention, Hawkins and his coworkers embarked on a longitudinal study in which some 150 disadvantaged pupils in Seattle public schools received the SSDP intervention for six years, and some 200 disadvantaged students of same age did not.Hawkins and his colleagues then followed individuals in the intervention and the control groups until they reached age 27. At that point, the researchers looked to see whether there were differences in educational, sexual, or mental health outcomes between the two groups.They found that there were. By age 27, a significantly greater number of children in the intervention group had achieved more education, were earning more money, and had significantly less sexually transmitted disease than their counterparts in the control group had. Furthermore, significantly fewer in the intervention group than in the control group had met criteria for one or more of four DSM-IV mental disorders—generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, social phobia, or posttraumatic stress disorder—during the previous year.So the intervention affected mental health, sexual health, and educational and economic achievement 15 years after the intervention ended,” Hawkins and his team concluded in the December 2008 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.However, where substance abuse and crime were concerned, no significant differences could be found between the intervention and control groups. On the other hand, it's possible that the intervention did make a difference, but that it was unable to be discerned, Hawkins told Psychiatric News.The intervention format was implemented two years ago in another area of the United States, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It was implemented in the county's 12 grade schools with some 300 teachers and 3,000 pupils—under the rubric Raising Healthy Children.“We are not doing original research,” said Lyn Skillington, executive director of Unified Family Services Systems in Bedford and head of the social development intervention there. “However, we are doing a fairly rigorous evaluation, although without control groups, and after two years are finding significant positive impacts in all segments of the populations served: children, parents, and teachers.”The study by Hawkins and his team was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.An abstract of “Effects of Social Development Intervention in Childhood 15 Years Later,” is posted at<http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/162/12/1133>. More information about the Raising Healthy Children project can be accessed at<www.ufssbedford.org> by clicking on “Raising Healthy Children.” ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Table of Contents

AbstractJust a Phase? Normal Developmental Rituals Versus OCD in Young ChildrenTreatment for Adolescent Marijuana Abuse and DependenceSchool‐Based Screenings for Identifying At‐Risk High SchoolersParental Factors that Predict Outcome in Anxious ChildrenFDA Panel Discouraged by Use of Antipsychotics in ChildrenLong‐Term Effects of Social Development Intervention in ChildhoodStimulants Decrease Substance Use in Girls with ADHDUse of Newer Antipsychotics in Pediatric PopulationRebuilding America's Psychological Infrastructure: Helping Our Children Change

Effects of Social Development Intervention in Childhood 15 Years Later

To examine the long-term effects of a universal intervention in elementary schools in promoting positive functioning in school, work, and community, and preventing mental health problems, risky sexual behavior, substance misuse, and crime at ages 24 and 27 years. Nonrandomized controlled trial. Fifteen public elementary schools serving diverse neighborhoods including high-crime neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington. Sex-balanced and multiracial/multiethnic sample of 598 participants at ages 24 and 27 years (93% of the original sample in these conditions). Teacher training in classroom instruction and management, child social and emotional skill development, and parent workshops. Self-reports of functioning in school, work, and community and of mental health, sexual behavior, substance use, and crime, and court records. A significant multivariate intervention effect across all 16 primary outcome indices was found. Specific effects included significantly better educational and economic attainment, mental health, and sexual health by age 27 years (all P < .05). Hypothesized effects on substance use and crime were not found at ages 24 or 27 years. A universal intervention for urban elementary schoolchildren, which focused on classroom management and instruction, children's social competence, and parenting practices, positively affected mental health, sexual health, and educational and economic achievement 15 years after the intervention ended.

Effect of a structural intervention for the prevention of intimate-partner violence and HIV in rural South Africa: a cluster randomised trial

HIV infection and intimate-partner violence share a common risk environment in much of southern Africa. The aim of the Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE) study was to assess a structural intervention that combined a microfinance programme with a gender and HIV training curriculum. Villages in the rural Limpopo province of South Africa were pair-matched and randomly allocated to receive the intervention at study onset (intervention group, n=4) or 3 years later (comparison group, n=4). Loans were provided to poor women who enrolled in the intervention group. A participatory learning and action curriculum was integrated into loan meetings, which took place every 2 weeks. Both arms of the trial were divided into three groups: direct programme participants or matched controls (cohort one), randomly selected 14-35-year-old household co-residents (cohort two), and randomly selected community members (cohort three). Primary outcomes were experience of intimate-partner violence--either physical or sexual--in the past 12 months by a spouse or other sexual intimate (cohort one), unprotected sexual intercourse at last occurrence with a non-spousal partner in the past 12 months (cohorts two and three), and HIV incidence (cohort three). Analyses were done on a per-protocol basis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00242957. In cohort one, experience of intimate-partner violence was reduced by 55% (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 0.45, 95% CI 0.23-0.91; adjusted risk difference -7.3%, -16.2 to 1.5). The intervention did not affect the rate of unprotected sexual intercourse with a non-spousal partner in cohort two (aRR 1.02, 0.85-1.23), and there was no effect on the rate of unprotected sexual intercourse at last occurrence with a non-spousal partner (0.89, 0.66-1.19) or HIV incidence (1.06, 0.66-1.69) in cohort three. A combined microfinance and training intervention can lead to reductions in levels of intimate-partner violence in programme participants. Social and economic development interventions have the potential to alter risk environments for HIV and intimate-partner violence in southern Africa.

Raising Healthy Children: Examining the Impact of Promoting Healthy Driving Behavior within a Social Development Intervention

This study evaluated the impact of two targeted family sessions focused on driving issues delivered within the context of the Raising Healthy Children project. The Raising Healthy Children project began in the fall of 1993, drawing students in the 1st or 2nd grades from 10 schools. Schools were assigned to an intervention or control condition, and the school-wide, family- and student-focused preventive intervention to address developmentally salient risk and protective factors was delivered during elementary and middle school. The family driving sessions were administered to families in the intervention condition prior to and after teenagers received their driver's license. The first session consisted of a home visit with families designed to help parents and their children improve decision-making skills concerning driving and to develop clear standards and expectations regarding driving-related behavior. A second session, at the time of licensure, was designed to help parents and teens develop a written contract that stated family expectations, a plan for monitoring compliance with these expectations, and consequences for compliance or non-compliance. Consistent with the study's group-randomized design, intervention effects were assessed with multi-level logistic regression models in which students were grouped by their original school assignment. These models assessed specific effects of the driving sessions by adjusting for control variables measured when students were in 8th grade, prior to the driving sessions. Results indicated that students in the intervention group were more likely than students in the control group to report that they had a written driving contract (p = .003, OR = 4.98), and had participated in making the driving rules in the family (p = .025, OR = 1.70). Further, students in the intervention group reported significantly fewer risky behaviors including driving under the influence of alcohol (p = .021, OR = .45) and driving with someone who had been drinking (p = .038, OR = .56).

Do Social and Behavioral Characteristics Targeted by Preventive Interventions Predict Standardized Test Scores and Grades?

This study assessed whether characteristics of individuals that are predictors of youth problem behavior such as substance use, delinquency, and violence also predict academic achievement. Longitudinal data from 576 students participating in the Raising Healthy Children (RHC) project were analyzed. The RHC project is a study of students recruited from a suburban Pacific Northwest school district. Tenth-grade academic achievement was measured by scores on a standardized test administered to students in Washington State (as part of compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act) and by student self-report of grades. Measures of social and behavioral characteristics at seventh grade were based on data from student, parent, and teacher surveys. Researchers assessed overall correlations between 7th-grade predictors and 10th-grade academic achievement as well as partial correlations adjusted for demographic characteristics and scores on an earlier achievement test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, in 4th grade. Results indicated that higher levels of school bonding and better social, emotional, and decision-making skills were related to higher test scores and higher grades. Lower test scores and lower grades were predicted by elevated levels of attention problems, negative behavior of peers, and disruptive and aggressive behavior. Lower test scores also were predicted by early use of alcohol and cigarettes. These findings support the premise that school-based social development interventions that address specific risk factors, curb early manifestations of antisocial behavior, and promote school bonding and social and emotional skills are likely to improve student academic achievement.

Do Social and Behavioral Characteristics Targeted by Preventive Interventions Predict Standardized Test Scores and Grades?

Abstract: This study assessed whether characteristics of individuals that are predictors of youth problem behavior such as substance use, delinquency, and violence also predict academic achievement. Longitudinal data from 576 students participating in the Raising Healthy Children (RHC) project were analyzed. The RHC project is a study of students recruited from a suburban Pacific Northwest school district. Tenth-grade academic achievement was measured by scores on a standardized test administered to students in Washington State (as part of compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act) and by student self-report of grades. Measures of social and behavioral characteristics at seventh grade were based on data from student, parent, and teacher surveys. Researchers assessed overall correlations between 7th-grade predictors and 10th-grade academic achievement as well as partial correlations adjusted for demographic characteristics and scores on an earlier achievement test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, in 4th grade. Results indicated that higher levels of school bonding and better social, emotional, and decision-making skills were related to higher test scores and higher grades. Lower test scores and lower grades were predicted by elevated levels of attention problems, negative behavior of peers, and disruptive and aggressive behavior. Lower test scores also were predicted by early use of alcohol and cigarettes. These findings support the premise that school-based social development interventions that address specific risk factors, curb early manifestations of antisocial behavior, and promote school bonding and social and emotional skills are likely to improve student academic achievement. (J Sch Health. 2005;75(9):342–349)

Promoting Positive Adult Functioning Through Social Development Intervention in Childhood: Long-term Effects From the Seattle Social Development Project—Correction

Promoting Positive Adult Functioning Through Social Development Intervention in Childhood: Long-term Effects From the Seattle Social Development Project—Correction

Promoting Positive Adult Functioning Through Social Development Intervention in Childhood

To examine the long-term effects of the Seattle Social Development Project intervention in promoting positive adult functioning and preventing mental health problems, crime, and substance use (including tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs) at 21 years of age. This nonrandomized controlled trial followed up participants to 21 years of age, 9 years after the intervention ended. We compared the following 3 intervention conditions: a full 6-year intervention (grades 1 through 6); a late 2-year intervention (grades 5 and 6 only); and a no-treatment control condition. Eighteen public elementary schools serving diverse neighborhoods, including high-crime neighborhoods, of Seattle, Wash. A sex-balanced, multiethnic sample of 605 participants across the 3 conditions who completed interviews at 21 years of age (94% of the original sample in these conditions). Teacher training in classroom instruction and management, child social and emotional skill development, and parent training. Self-reports of functioning in school and work, emotional and mental health, and crime and substance use at 21 years of age and official court records. Broad significant effects on functioning in school and work and on emotional and mental health were found. Fewer significant effects on crime and substance use were found at 21 years of age. Most outcomes had a consistent dose effect, with the strongest effects in subjects in the full-intervention group and effects in the late-intervention group between those in the full-intervention and control groups. A theory-guided preventive intervention that strengthened teaching and parenting practices and taught children interpersonal skills during the elementary grades had wide-ranging beneficial effects on functioning in early adulthood.

Social development: the intellectual heritage

AbstractBecause social development is primarily concerned with practical matters, little attention has been paid to the ideas, concepts and theories that inform social development interventions. Most publications on social development make little reference to theoretical issues, and most practitioners are unaware of the conceptual derivation of their activities. However, although seldom recognized or acknowledged, social development practice has, in a subtle and indirect way, been informed and shaped by a variety of intellectual ideas that, in turn, reveal a commitment to different normative perspectives. This paper traces the contribution these perspectives have made to social development over the years. By documenting this intellectual heritage, it hopes to promote a greater awareness of theoretical issues and, at the same time, to foster social development's conceptualization. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.