Program Summary
The Incredible Years Series is a set of three comprehensive, multi-faceted, and developmentally-based curriculums for parents, teachers and children designed to promote emotional and social competence and to prevent, reduce, and treat behavior and emotion problems in young children.
Program Targets:
Children, ages two to ten, at risk for and/or presenting with conduct problems (defined as high rates of aggression, defiance, oppositional and impulsive behaviors). The programs have been evaluated as "selected" prevention programs for promoting the social adjustment of high risk children in preschool (Head Start) and elementary grades (up to grade three) and as "indicated" interventions for children exhibiting the early onset of conduct problems.
Program Content:
This series of programs addresses multiple risk factors across settings known to be related to the development of Conduct Disorders in children. In all three training programs, trained facilitators use videotape scenes to encourage group discussion, problem-solving, and sharing of ideas. The BASIC parent series is "core" and a necessary component of the prevention program delivery. The other parent training, teacher, and child components are strongly recommended with particular populations that are detailed in this document.
Incredible Years Training for Parents.The Incredible Years parenting series includes three programs targeting parents of high-risk children and/or those displaying behavior problems. The BASIC program emphasizes parenting skills known to promote children's social competence and reduce behavior problems such as: how to play with children, helping children learn, effective praise and use of incentives, effective limit-setting and strategies to handle misbehavior. The ADVANCE program emphasizes parent interpersonal skills such as: effective communication skills, anger management, problem-solving between adults, and ways to give and get support. The SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD'S EDUCATION program (known as SCHOOL) emphasizes parenting approaches designed to promote children's academic skills such as: reading skills, parental involvement in setting up predictable homework routines, and building collaborative relationships with teachers.
Incredible Years Training for Teachers. This series emphasizes effective classroom management skills such as: the effective use of teacher attention, praise and encouragement, use of incentives for difficult behavior problems, proactive teaching strategies, how to manage inappropriate classroom behaviors, the importance of building positive relationships with students, and how to teach empathy, social skills and problem-solving in the classroom.
Incredible Years Training for Children.The Dinosaur Curriculum emphasizes training children in skills such as emotional literacy, empathy or perspective taking, friendship skills, anger management, interpersonal problem-solving, school rules and how to be successful at school. The treatment version is designed for use as a "pull out" treatment program for small groups of children exhibiting conduct problems. The prevention version is delivered to the entire classroom by regular teachers, two to three times a week.
Program Outcomes:
Multiple randomized control group evaluations of the parenting series indicate significant:
- Increases in parent positive affect such as praise and reduced use of criticism and negative commands.
- Increases in parent use of effective limit-setting by replacing spanking and harsh discipline with non-violent discipline techniques and increased monitoring of children.
- Reductions in parental depression and increases in parental self-confidence.
- Increases in positive family communication and problem-solving.
- Reduced conduct problems in children's interactions with parents and increases in their positive affect and compliance to parental commands.
Multiple randomized control group evaluations of the teacher training series indicate significant:
- Increases in teacher use of praise and encouragement and reduced use of criticism and harsh discipline.
- Increases in children's positive affect and cooperation with teachers, positive interactions with peers, school readiness and engagement with school activities.
- Reductions in peer aggression in the classroom.
Multiple randomized control group evaluations of the child training series indicate significant:
- Increases in children's appropriate cognitive problem-solving strategies and more prosocial conflict management strategies with peers.
- Reductions in conduct problems at home and school.
Independent replications in England, Wales, Norway, Canada, and the US confirm these findings.
Program Costs:
The costs of curriculum materials, including video or DVDs, comprehensive manuals, books and other teaching aids for the Parent Training Program are $1,300 for the BASIC program, $775 for the ADVANCE program, $1250 for the SCHOOL program; $1,250 for the Teacher Training Program; and $1250 for the Child Training Program. Discounts are available for purchases of more than one set of any program. Training and technical assistance costs are charged based on a daily fee.
