Reaching IN…Reaching OUT consists of three stages & projects:
  • RIRO-1: model-testing pilot (2002-2004)
  • RIRO-2: skills training program development (2004-2006)
  • RIRO-3: train-the-trainer program development project & regional dissemination (2006-2009).

Research and evaluation are woven throughout all three stages of Reaching IN...Reaching OUT. The research results reported in this section are from the pilot study in the first stage.

Ongoing evaluation over a four-year period during RIRO-2 and RIRO-3 has confirmed the major findings of the original pilot study. Please click here for results of the ongoing evaluation.

The Pilot Study (RIRO-1)

The Reaching IN…Reaching OUT pilot study systematically explored whether the Penn Resilience Program (PRP) school-age model could be adapted for use with young children in child care.

Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) from four diverse child care centers in Ontario were trained in the adult resiliency skills set of the PRP model. The project research team visited the centres on a regular basis to help educators integrate the skills training and to adapt and introduce the skills to preschool and kindergarten age children.

Over the course of one year, these ECEs modeled the resiliency skills in their daily interactions with children. They introduced selected skills through developmentally-adapted activities to children of various ages, and evaluated the outcome. RIRO research team members consulted with ECEs on site and observed them working with the children in the centres. ECEs were interviewed throughout the project to gather qualitative information about their use of the skills. At the end of the year, they completed two formal written surveys measuring the impact of the resiliency skills training on themselves and children.

Click Here for details of the research findings from the pilot study.


Highlights of the pilot study include:

Impact of the resiliency skills training on professionals

  • 100% of ECEs reported a positive impact on their interactions with centre children.
  • More than 80% said it also affected interactions with adults in their families, other ECEs, as well as friends and acquaintances.
  • More than 80% of ECEs rated the impact as “moderate” to “high” on:
    • understanding their own behavior
    • interacting with children
    • understanding child behavior
    • increasing teamwork in their centres.
Importance and usefulness of the resiliency skills and abilities (resiliency factors) to professionals at work and elsewhere
  • ECEs reported the top three resiliency skills for them professionally are learning to:
    • put adversities and challenges into perspective
    • calm and focus themselves
    • use the ABC model to understand how their own beliefs about the causes and effects of stress and adversity affect their response to it.
  • More than 70% reported using the top three skills at least once a day in their work.
  • ECEs rated the usefulness of their knowledge of the resiliency abilities (resiliency factors) to their professional work very highly (mean = 6.1 on 7-point scale)
  • ECEs reported that the ability to “better analyze the causes of problems” was the resiliency ability most affected by their personal use of the resiliency skills, and “regulating their own emotions” was second.
Impact of the resiliency skills areas on children
  • 100% of ECEs responded positively when asked whether they had observed changes in child behavior that they believe could be attributed to the ECE’s skills training (“yes” = 50%, “probably” = 50%).
  • More than 60% of ECEs reported changes in the children’s impulse control and emotional regulation that they believe was related to the ECEs’ resiliency training.
  • Calming/ focusing activities, which impact on resilience through emotional regulation, were viewed as the top resiliency skill area for children to learn, beginning with preschoolers.
  • For kindergarten children, ECEs rated "learning to put things into perspective" as the most important new skill after calming/focusing skills were in place.
  • Generating alternatives (coming up with alternative beliefs and behavior) was seen as the second most important skill to introduce to preschoolers and kindergarten children alike.
  • More than 75% of ECEs reported the top three resiliency skills could be used to assess the needs of children of any age.
  • More than 75% said these top three skills could be role-modeled in daily interaction with children both in preschool and kindergarten programs. But most said they thought role modeling of the skills should start as early as possible.
  • Group-based resiliency promotion activities were easiest to facilitate with children at least four years old.
  • ECEs reported observing children using skills with their peers that were introduced earlier to the children through group activities.
Knowledge about resilience in professionals
  • ECEs rated their level of awareness of the importance of resiliency promotion as significantly higher after the skills training (mean difference = 2.2 points on 7-point scale, p < .001).
  • ECEs rated their knowledge of the seven resiliency abilities (resiliency factors) as significantly higher after the skills training (mean difference = 3.4 points on a 7-point scale, p < .001).

 




  
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