Prevention as Treatment: Enhancing Resilience in High- Risk Children

Abstract

This chapter reviews the application of treatment methods in prevention, with an emphasis on familybased substance abuse, delinquency, and child maltreatment. The goal of prevention is to increase resilience in high-risk children. Considerable overlap exists between evidence-based prevention and treatment interventions, including their etiological and intervention theories, cognitive behavioral change methods and outcome objectives. Also included is the Institute of Medicinespectrum of treatment disorders, a review of prevention and treatment intervention theories, and methods used to design effective family interventions, with an emphasis on family systems, social ecology and resilience theories including the author’s Transactional Framework of Resilience model and the Strengthening Families Program. Lastly, this chapter covers the applications of clinical techniques to improve resilience characteristics and processes and places evidence-based prevention programs methods within this framework and details their similarity to treatment. Digital technology (e.g., DVDs, Web, smart phones, television, etc.) is recommended to reduce intervention costs and “go-to-scale” to have a greater public health impact in promoting resilience in children.