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In 1990, the Fast Track Project was initiated to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a comprehensive, multicomponent prevention program targeting children at risk for conduct disorders in four demographically diverse American communities (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group [CPPRG], 1992). Representing a prevention science approach toward community-based preventive intervention, the Fast Track intervention design was based upon the available data base elucidating the epidemiology of risk for conduct disorder and suggesting key causal developmental influences (R. P. Weissberg & M. T. Greenberg, 1998). Critical questions about this approach to prevention center around the extent to which such a science-based program can be effective at (1) engaging community members and stakeholders, (2) maintaining intervention fidelity while responding appropriately to the local norms and needs of communities that vary widely in their demographic and cultural/ethnic composition, and (3) maintaining community engagement in the long-term to support effective and sustainable intervention dissemination. This paper discusses these issues, providing examples from the Fast Track project to illustrate the process of program implementation and the evidence available regarding the success of this science-based program at engaging communities in sustainable and effective ways as partners in prevention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the 2-year post-treatment follow-up of preschool children identified as having high levels of disruptive behavior at kindergarten entry. They were assigned to four treatment conditions: A no-treatment group, parent-training only, treatment classroom only, and the combination of parent training with the treatment classroom. Interventions lasted the entire kindergarten academic year. Initial post-treatment results reported previously indicated no effects for the parent-training program but some efficacy for the classroom intervention program. For this report, the disruptive behavior (DB) children were subdivided into those who did (n = 74) and did not (n = 77) receive the treatment classroom. Two-year post-treatment follow-up results indicated no differences between the classroom treated and untreated DB groups. These groups also failed to differ in the percentage of children using available treatments across the follow-up period. The DB children in both groups had significantly more symptoms of ADHD and ODD than a community control group (N = 47) at follow-up. They also received higher ratings of externalizing problems on the parent Child Behavior Checklist, more severe ratings of behavior problems at home, and ratings of more pervasive behavior problems at school, and had poorer academic skills. Results suggested that early intervention classrooms for DB children may not produce enduring effects once treatment is withdrawn, and that better approaches are needed for identifying those DB children at greatest risk for later maladjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]