Universal Coping Power for pre-schoolers: Effects on children's behavioral difficulties and pre-academic skills

The Coping Power Program has been adapted as a universal prevention model (Coping Power Universal) aimed to reduce children's behavioral difficulties in Italian primary and nursery classes. The current study aimed to determine whether the version of the Universal Coping Power for pre-schoolers could reduce behavioral problems in school and home contexts, and could produce transfer effects on children's pre-academic skills. The sample included 102 five-year-old children who attended six pre-school classes located in Rovigo (Italy). Classes were randomly assigned to the intervention or to the control condition. Both parents and teachers indicated a significant reduction in behavioral problems for Coping Power classes, and teachers rated improvement in children's pre-mathematics, and language abilities. The results of this study are promising, suggesting pre-schoolers' social-emotional and pre-academic skills may benefit from the Universal Coping Power program.