Blueprints
Promising Programs Fact Sheets
Linking the
Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT)
(Note: This program is not currently being disseminated) |
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Program Overview
Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT)
is a school-based intervention for the prevention
of conduct problems such as antisocial behavior, involvement
with delinquent peers, and drug/alcohol use. It is based
on the view that the most reasonable interventions for
child conduct problems would utilize an existing service
system with widespread access to children, be conducted
at the earliest possible point in the life of a child,
and target malleable precursors of later conduct problems.
The main goal of LIFT is to decrease children's antisocial
behavior and increase their pro-social behavior.
Program Targets
LIFT is a population-based intervention designed for
all first and fifth grade elementary school boys and
girls and their families living in at-risk neighborhoods
characterized by high rates of juvenile delinquency.
Program Content
LIFT targets the school, peers, and the family, in the
following ways:
- The classroom component contains 20, one-hour sessions
taught over ten weeks. Each session follows the same
format: lecture and role play on a specific social
or problem solving skill, structured group skills
practice, unstructured free play, and skills review
and daily awards. These activities are similar for
both first and fifth graders, however fifth graders
also receive a study skills component.
- A modification of the Good Behavior Game serves
as the playground component. Each class is divided
into small groups for playground play. Children can
earn rewards by exhibiting positive problem solving
skills and suppressing negative behaviors while on
the playground.
- Parents are taught how to create a home environment
that is most conducive to the ongoing practice of
good discipline and supervision through a series of
6 meetings at their child's school. Each meeting provides
a review of the results from home practice exercises,
a lecture, discussion and role plays of issues for
the current week, and a presentation of home practice
exercises for the following week. When parents are
unable to attend a group meeting, a member of the
LIFT staff attempts to meet with them individually
in their home, or provides the parents with a packet
of materials covering the content of the missed session.
Program Outcomes
An evaluation of immediate, post-test results
indicated significant changes in each targeted area
of child and parent behaviors as a result of participating
in the LIFT program.
- First, LIFT had a significant decrease of physical
aggression on the playground for children in the treatment
group, compared to the control group, and these effects
were most dramatic for children who rated most aggressive
at pre-test.
- Second, LIFT mothers who displayed the highest
pre-intervention levels of aversive behaviors showed
the largest reductions, compared to control mothers.
- Third, teacher rating data indicated a significant
increase in positive social skills and classroom behavior
in children receiving the LIFT program.
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