News Release

Curriculum focused on cognitive skills may improve child behavior

Lessons in self-control lead to fewer negative behaviors

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

State College, Pa. – June 28, 2007 -- Children who were taught a curriculum that focused on self-control and awareness of their own and others’ emotions were found to exhibit greater social competence and fewer behavioral and emotional problems. According to a recent study in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, when teachers taught a particular curriculum to students for 20-30 minutes-per-day, three times-per-week over a six-month period, lower rates of aggression and anxiety/sadness were seen when evaluated a year later compared to children randomized to normal classroom procedures.

“Several complex cognitive processes, such as the ability to cope in stressful situations, are related to the development of the prefrontal areas of the brain starting in the preschool years,” says study author Mark Greenberg. “We know that deficiencies in the function of these lobes are linked to problems like aggression, depression and attention disorders.” Therefore, the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum, which stimulates cognitive and emotional skills, enhances the child’s ability to cope with stress and make good choices.

Greenberg offers an example of a simple PATHS skill that helps children understand and identify feelings in others. “Children use ‘feeling faces’ cards throughout the day to indicate clearly to others what emotions they are experiencing,” says Greenberg. “By labeling the emotions clearly, children learn to recognize them in themselves and others, which will aid them in managing those emotions.”

The main advantage of this curriculum is its preventive nature. Rather than focusing on treating negative behaviors after they have become stable and disruptive, PATHS provides children with coping strategies to prevent the development of behavioral and emotional difficulties.

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This study entitled “Promoting Resilience in Children and Youth. Preventative Interventions and Their Interface with Neuroscience” is published in volume 1094 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Resilience in Children. Members of the media wishing to receive a PDF of this article please contact journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net.

Mark Greenberg is the director of the Prevention Research Center of Pennsylvania State University. He also holds the Bennett Chair of Prevention Research. He can be reached for questions at mxg47@psu.edu.

The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest scientific journals in the United States and among the most cited of multidisciplinary scientific serials. Continuously published since 1823, the Annals is the premier publication of the Academy, offering the proceedings of conferences sponsored by the NYAS as well as those of other scientific organizations. For more information, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas.

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