EPI Image Descriptions
Recommendation Graphic
This graphic describes the 3-step process to find recommendations to improve your program. Step 1 is to choose a target outcome. What outcome, issue, or problem are you most concerned about addressing? Step 2 is to choose an intervention family. An intervention family is a group of interventions that share a strategy or principles on how to address challenges with the selected outcome. Step 3 is to review the available recommendations. Each recommendation includes a description of the evidence, guidance on assessing the feasibility of implementing the recommendation, and action steps to incorporate the recommendation into your existing program.
Intervention Families Graphic
Relational intervention family.
Definition: Interventions that emphasize trusting and supportive relationships with others, including mentors, therapists, and counselors, to improve youth outcomes.
Intervention examples: Counseling focused on interpersonal issues or behavior change. Peer mentoring or counseling. Adult mentoring focused on support and guidance. Community mental health services and case management. Student services center that provides support and counseling. Group play therapy. Reality therapy.
Skill-building intervention family.
Definitions: Interventions that teach youth skills to manage social interactions and control executive responses such as anger and impulsivity. Skills my be interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, mindfulness strategies for managing emotions, stress, and improving focus, and other similar skills.
Intervention examples: Interpersonal or social skills training. Anger management training. Social problem-solving training. Perspective taking and emotional awareness training. Conflict management or resolution training. Assertiveness training. Effective functioning skills training. Mindfulness and relaxation skills training.
Academic-educational intervention family.
Definition: Interventions focused on improving school performance, school engagement, and academically-oriented behavior, which may yield collateral benefits on other outcomes by promotion of positive youth development.
Intervention examples: Tutoring and enrichment intervention. Schools-within-schools and other alternative school structures. Remedial or developmental instruction. Individualized academic instruction. After-school academic intervention. Training in self-regulated learning strategies. Reciprocal peer tutoring.
Behavior management intervention family.
Definition: Interventions with primary focus on shaping or modifying problem behavior and precursors via rewards and punishments. These interventions can be stand-alone or integrated with other types of interventions.
Intervention examples: Behavior modification and reinforcement techniques. Behavioral contracting. Token economy. Classroom management training.
Family relations and parenting skills.
Definition: Interventions that focus on improving outcomes through enhancing or improving parental or family influences on youth, particularly through improved parent-child relationships and positive parenting behaviors.
Intervention examples: Family therapy. Parenting skills training. Coping skills training for divorce or other family issues. Social support groups for caregivers.
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Choose an Intervention Family that Best Fits Your Program
This figure describes how to choose an Intervention Family that best fits your program. The figure describes the following 3 step process: (1) Identify your program, (2) Unpack your program into its key service(s) or intervention(s), and (3) Classify the services or intervention(s).
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Translate Research Findings Graphic
This graphic shows how we translate research findings into practice guidelines. The first box depicts the information environment. The vast research on youth programs is difficult to navigate for evidence-based decision-making. The second box describes the role of meta-analysis. Meta-analysis offers a transparent and efficient way to organize evidence. The third box describes core components, which are program features that predict positive youth outcomes and are identified empirically. Lastly, the fourth box describes the practice guidelines. In the practice guidelines, core components are translated into accessible and actionable guidance to improve practice.