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Biomedical subjects

E L Cowen

Publications and source records attributed to E L Cowen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

The effects of peer-teaching on student perceptions of class environment, adjustment, and academic performance.

This study explored the effects of a social studies peer-teaching intervention on student perceptions of class environment, adjustment, and academic performance. There were 45 students in the experimental group (E) and 46 controls (C) from four fifth-grade classes in a suburban, predominantly white, middle-class school. The Classroom Environment Scale (CES) and a School Opinion Survey were used to assess student views of the classroom. Students completed self-esteem and peer sociometric rating measures and teachers submitted adjustment ratings for all pupils. Report card and average monthly grades were recorded in social studies. After the intervention, Es compared to Cs came to see their classes as more Involved, Orderly and Organized, and Competitive, and reported being happier in class and enjoying aspects of their school work more. The groups did not differ in change in self-esteem. Both groups improved directionally in peer liking, though Cs did so more than Es. Teachers rated Es as having increased competence and decreased in problems after the program. Es did significantly better than Cs both on report cards and monthly social studies grades due primarily to the substantial improvement of Es with initially low academic status.

Achievement↗
PubMed1985

Person-centered approaches to primary prevention in mental health: situation-focused and competence-enhancement.

This article considers two families of person-centered approaches to primary prevention in mental health, i.e., situation-focused and competence-enhancement. Rationales and examples of effective programs are presented for both clusters. Similarities and differences between the two approaches are considered as are their special advantages and limitations. Although the approaches differ somewhat in terms of their conceptual footings, prime methodologies, natural target groups, and in the timing of their applications, they share the same ultimate goal, i.e., strengthening the psychological wellness of the population at large. In that sense, they complement system-level primary prevention approaches based on social change.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1985

Recent stressful life events and young children's school adjustment.

A group of 211 first-to fourth-grade children who had experienced one or more recent stressful life events were compared to a demographically matched sample of 211 children who had not experienced such events on measures of school adjustment problems and competencies. Stressful life events were found to be associated with the presence of more serious school adjustment problems and fewer competencies. Those associations were strongest for children who had experienced multiple recent stressful events. The importance of preventive interventions for this at-risk group was emphasized and future research steps in the area were considered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Risk and resource indicators and their relationship to young children's school adjustment.

Relationships between risk-magnifying life situations and events, as well as resources, and school adjustment were explored in a large sample of first through fourth graders. Also studied was the extent to which the presence of resources moderate the effects of risk. Children's risk and resource factors were determined from background-identifying information provided by teachers in four domains: physical and health characteristics, recent critical life events, special school services and activities, and family background variables. A significant negative correlation was found between scores on composite risk and resource indices. Both indices correlated significantly, and in the expected directions, with measures of school problem behaviors and competencies. High risk children with moderate resources were significantly better adjusted than high risk children with few or no resources. Implications of those findings for developing primary prevention programs for children at risk were considered.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Differentiating attributes of children referred to a school mental health program.

A group of 275 first- and fourth-graders referred to a school mental health project were compared to a demographically matched sample of 509 non-referred classmates on the frequency of occurrence of 39 background descriptive variables reflecting four clusters: (a) physical and health characteristics, (b) recent critical life-events, (c) concurrent school activities and special services, and (d) current family status. Referred children had more serious problems of coordination and health and were judged to be less attractive physically. They experienced many more recent critical life-events, were involved in more problem-related special services and fewer extracurricular activities, and evidenced more signs of familial disruption.

Beauty↗
PubMed1982

Student perception of school environment and its relationship to mood, achievement, popularity, and adjustment.

This study examined relationships between student perceptions of classroom environment and mood, achievement, popularity, and adjustment, both for students in general and for "problem" (i.e., acting-out, anxious, and unpopular) children. Subjects included 511 fifth- and sixth-grade students from 23 classes in four suburban schools. Class environment was assessed by responses to a short form of the Classroom Environment Scale (CES). Students also completed mood adjective checklists and peer sociometric ratings. Reading and arithmetic report card grades and achievement test scores were recorded for the school year, and teachers submitted adjustment ratings for all students. Classes, rather than students, were used as the main unit of analysis. For classes in general, high perceived Order and Organization and Affiliation related to greater student popularity. Relationships between perceptions of class environment and the dependent measures were stronger for problem students. For that group, high perceived Order and Organization, Affiliation, and Innovation related to positive mood, greater peer popularity, and teacher ratings indicating more positive adjustment.

Achievement↗
PubMed1981

Parental death or divorce and the school adjustment of young children.

This study examined the effects of two potentially crisis-producing experiences, parental divorce or death, on the school adjustment of young children. Children with such "crisis" histories were found to show greater overall school maladaptation than children without such histories. Children of divorce had significantly more acting-out problems than noncrisis controls or death children and those with histories of parental death more serious shy-anxious problems than the other groups. These effects were stable across (a) independent year samples, (b) referred and "normal" nonreferred groups, and (c) urban and rural samples. Differential judgments about the competencies of children who have experienced parental divorce, death, or neither were also found. Divorce children were seen as having fewer competencies than death children or noncrisis controls. The association between specific crisis history and specific school adjustment patterns is seen to have implications for the study of coping with stressful life events and for preventive efforts.

Acting Out↗
PubMed1980

The wooing of primary prevention.

The metaphor of the paper's title offers a framework for a brief summary. Effective wooing of primary prevention requires that we take seriously and adhere to, its clear, sensible defining guidelines; systematize, and further develop, its generative base; use that base to guide the formulation of new primary prevention programs; further develop frameworks to promote informed choices of program directions from among many attractive possibilities; and be more hard-nosed as program evaluators. That type of courtship should improve our love life with--and perhaps even, science of--primary prevention in mental health.

Child↗
PubMed1979

The Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP): evaluation of current program effectiveness.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Primary Mental Project (PMHP), a program for early detection and prevention of school adjustment problems. Pre- and postprogram assessments were done with 215 primary-grade children seen in PMHP, usig teacher ratings of problem behaviors and competencies, and child-aide ratings of problems. School mental health professionals judged educational and behavioral changes in project children during the year. Significant across-the board improvements were found on all criterion measures. Modest intercorrelations among criterion change estimates suggested that the observed changes were due to program, rather than halo, effects. PMHP children also improved significantly more than matched, retrospective controls.

Child↗
PubMed1979

Hairdressers as caregivers. I. A descriptive profile of interpersonal help-giving involvements.

The interpersonal help-giving behaviors of 90 hairdressers were explored in depth in an interview study. On the average, hairdressers saw 55 customers a week, and talked 25 minutes with each. About one-third of the talking time concerned clients' moderate to serious personal problems--particularly problems with children, physical health, marriage, depression, and anxiety. Hairdressers reported that offering sympathy and support, being lighthearted, just listening, and presenting alternatives were among their most frequent response strategies. Although they often enjoyed fielding clients' personal problems, at times they felt perplexed by them. Hairdressers perceived listening to customers' interpersonal problems to be an important part of their everyday function and expressed a need for professional inputs in that domain.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

The evaluation of an intervention program for young schoolchildren with acting-out problems.

The rationale and nature of a program to train nonprofessional child-aides for helping interactions with young acting-out school children are described. Pre/post teacher measures of children's problems and competencies, aide measures of problem behavior, and school mental health professionals' change in behavior estimates were used to evaluate the program's effectiveness. Children seen by trained aides showed significantly greater reductions both in acting-out problems and in overall maladjustment than did similar children seen by comparable aides who did not have additional training, or by themselves before training. Implications were considered for optimizing outcomes both in the specific school intervention project in question and in other, broader types of clinical interventions.

Acting Out↗