Hardly a family in America has been untouched by mental illness. As many as one third of American adults will suffer a diagnosable mental disorder sometime in their life, and 20 percent have a mental disorder at any given time. Although research on the causes and treatment of mental disorders remains vitally important—and indeed major advances are leading to better lives for increasing numbers of people—much greater effort than ever before needs to be directed to prevention. The Senate Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Congress believed that a strategic approach to the prevention of mental disorders was warranted. The Congress mandated the National Institute of Mental Health to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to prepare an integrated report of current research with policy-oriented and detailed long-term recommendations for a prevention research agenda. The specific tasks of the IOM committee, as negotiated with NIMH and the co-funding agencies, were as follows: • Review the status of current research on the prevention of mental illness and problem behaviors and on the promotion of mental health throughout the life span. This should include an understanding of available research knowledge, research priorities, and research opportunities in the prevention research area. • Review the existing federal presence in the prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of mental health, spanning the continuum from research to policy and services. • Provide recommendations on federal policies and programs of ABSTRACT xi Ab ou t th is P D F fil e: T hi s ne w d ig ita l r ep re se nt at io n of t he o rig in al w or k ha s be en r ec om po se d fro m X M L fil es c re at ed f ro m t he o rig in al p ap er b oo k, n ot f ro m t he or ig in al ty pe se tti ng fi le s. P ag e br ea ks a re tr ue to th e or ig in al ; l in e le ng th s, w or d br ea ks , h ea di ng s ty le s, a nd o th er t y pe se tti ng -s pe ci fic fo rm at tin g, h ow ev er , c an no t b e re ta in ed , a nd s om e ty po gr ap hi c er ro rs m ay h av e be en a cc id en t a lly in se rte d. P le as e us e th e pr in t v er si on o f t hi s pu bl ic at io n as th e au th or ita tiv e ve rs io n fo r a ttr ib ut io n.

Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research

Ordinary Magic: Resilience Processes in Development

Multigrade and multi-age classrooms, in which students from two or more grades are taught by one teacher at the same time, represent a significant phenomenon in our schools. This article reviews the best evidence concerning the cognitive and noncognitive effects of the multigrade classroom, which is an administrative device used to cope with declining student enrollment or uneven class sizes, and the multi-age classroom, in which children of different ages are grouped together for educational and pedagogical benefits, in elementary schools. Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multigrade and single-grade classes were compared revealed no consistent differences between these two types of classroom organization (median ES = .00). Studies of the noncognitive effects of multigrade and single-grade classes also produced no consistent differences (median ES = +.10). Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multi-age and single-age classes were compared indicated no difference...

Cognitive and Noncognitive Effects of Multigrade and Multi-Age Classes: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

School and family constitute two developmental contexts essential for the lifespan trajectories. In this article, it is highlighted the contribution of both contexts to human development promotion, emphasizing their implications on evolutionary processes. The issues about family links, configurations, and the importance of the social support network for family development are discussed. The school functions are focused considering their influences on developing persons. Considerations are also made about the necessity of understanding the inter-relations between the school and the family, aiming to promote learning and human development. The integration between these two contexts is a challenge for both the professional practice and the empirical research.

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La familia y la escuela como contextos del desarrollo humano

Externalizing behaviors frequently develop in adverse environments. The aim of this study was to document this association in children presenting academic underachievement. Participants were both boys and girls, aged seven to 11 years, referred for psychological treatment by virtue of school underachievement. From a universe of 141 children, two groups were constituted on the basis of scores in the Child Behavior Scale: G1 (children without behavior problems, n= 30) and G2 (children with behavior problems, n= 37). Mothers were interviewed to obtain data about environment resources and adversities. Results indicated that children from G2 live at homes with fewer resources and more adversities, presentig problems in interpersonal relationships, poor parent supervision, monitoring and supporting, lower parent involvement with child development, punitive practices and aggressive adult models. The school difficulties raise the childis vulnerability to maladjustment. The inclusion of the family in preventive interventions directed to these children is emphazised.

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Ambiente familiar e os problemas do comportamento apresentados por crianças com baixo desempenho escolar

Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar as relacoes entre praticas educativas dos pais e problemas de comportamento dos filhos, a luz do referencial teorico-pratico do treinamento em habilidades sociais. A forma como os pais educam seus filhos parece ser crucial a promocao de comportamentos socialmente adequados, porem, com frequencia, as familias acabam estimulando comportamentos inadequados por meio de disciplina inconsistente, pouca interacao positiva, pouco monitoramento e supervisao insuficiente das atividades da crianca. Considera-se que os pais, para promoverem comportamentos adequados em seus filhos, necessitam ter habilidades sociais educativas, tais como expressar sentimentos e opinioes, estabelecer limites evitando coercao, entre outras. Conclui-se que, intervencoes com pais, com a finalidade de promover habilidades sociais educativas, sao importantes meios para prevencao e reducao de problemas de comportamento em criancas, de forma a evitar dificuldades escolares e de socializacao na meninice e na adolescencia.

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Práticas educativas e problemas de comportamento: uma análise à luz das habilidades sociais

The objective of this article was to investigate the parental support received by children directed for psychological attendance due to poor academic achievement, in comparison with children not sent to psychological attendance. Participants consisted of 60 children from 7 to 11 years of age and their mothers, selected at a psychology clinic and at school, both public ones. The support was evaluated in three domains: academic, developmental and emotional. The child was evaluated regarding his/her intelligence level, performance at school and the presence of behavior problems. In agreement with previous studies, the studied group showed lower academic and cognitive development and greater incidence academic of problems regarding behavior. The academic support did not differ among the groups. Mothers of referred children showed less developmental and emotional support, with problems in the educational practices and conflicting relationship parent-child. The results point out the need of mental health care for vulnerable children that live in an environment with little support.

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Suporte parental: um estudo sobre crianças com queixas escolares

O objetivo deste artigo e descrever o desenvolvimento do RAF - Inventario de Recursos do Ambiente Familiar. Baseado na concepcao ecologica do desenvolvimento, o RAF avalia recursos do ambiente familiar que podem contribuir para o aprendizado academico nos anos do ensino fundamental, em tres dominios: recursos que promovem processos proximais; atividades que sinalizam estabilidade na vida familiar; praticas parentais que promovem a ligacao familia-escola. Uma revisao de pesquisas que utilizaram o RAF indica indices aceitaveis de consistencia interna, bem como associacao entre escores no RAF e indicadores de desempenho escolar e ajustamento. Passeios, brinquedos e livros, bem como oportunidades de interacao com os pais em casa, foram recursos relacionados a indicadores de bom desempenho escolar e ajustamento. Embora ainda sejam necessarios estudos de validacao e fidedignidade, o inventario tem sido uma ferramenta util para pesquisadores e pode ser usado por profissionais que trabalham em contexto clinico ou educacional.

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O inventário de recursos do ambiente familiar

Recursos do ambiente familiar, que favorecem o desempenho escolar, incluem materiais educacionais e envolvimento parental. Realizou-se um estudo com o objetivo de investigar esses recursos em uma amostra clinica de 100 criancas, encaminhadas por dificuldades na aprendizagem escolar. Os dados foram coletados durante entrevista com a mae, por meio de um roteiro para sondagem de recursos e circunstâncias adversas. A crianca era solicitado um texto a partir de um desenho. A analise estatistica incluiu analise de regressao, correlacao e comparacao entre medias de subgrupos constituidos segundo idade, atraso escolar e desempenho na escrita. Os resultados indicaram que o nivel de elaboracao da escrita esta positivamente associado a disponibilidade de livros e brinquedos, enquanto o atraso escolar esta negativamente associado a organizacao das rotinas e a diversidade de atividades compartilhadas com os pais. Circunstâncias adversas tem associacao positiva com atraso. Os resultados sao discutidos quanto a sua aplicabilidade em programasse orientacao psicopedagogica as familias.

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Edna Maria Marturano

Papers

Ambiente familiar e os problemas do comportamento apresentados por crianças com baixo desempenho escolar

Práticas educativas e problemas de comportamento: uma análise à luz das habilidades sociais

Suporte parental: um estudo sobre crianças com queixas escolares

O inventário de recursos do ambiente familiar

Recursos no Ambiente Familiar e Dificuldades de Aprendizagem na Escola