Primary prevention of psychological disorders in elementary and intermediate schools

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Abstract
This paper reviews primary prevention programs in elementary and intermediate schools and proposes a revised operational definition for the concept of primary prevention. For several decades, primary prevention has been advocated as a strategy for reducing the incidence of psychological disorders in the population. One setting in which primary prevention programs have frequently been developed is the school system. These programs have taken three forms: specific curriculum additions, environmental modifications, and teacher training. There has been some evidence that demonstrates positive effects of curriculum addition programs, although long‐term follow‐ups have not been conducted to assess whether or not prevention of subsequent disorders has actually occurred. Evaluation of modified environments and of teacher training is difficult at this time because too few studies have measured program effects on school children. Descriptions of programs have suffered from the following important omissions: 1∥ explicit operationalization of program variables, and 2∥ calibration of program content to age‐appropriate readiness. An agreed‐upon definition of primary prevention has eluded writers in the field of mental health. Accordingly, this paper advances a simplified schema for conceptualizing primary prevention which synthesizes previously proposed definitions