A substance-use prevention program delivered to students and their families in the sixth and seventh grades led to wide-ranging benefits well into adulthood and — for those who became parents — even positively affected their children, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.

The Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) program builds problem solving and communication skills among middle school students to reduce alcohol and other substance misuse. It was developed more than 20 years ago by researchers at Penn State and Iowa State University and has been delivered for decades in rural towns where residents have higher risk for substance misuse and lower levels of education.

Other studies have shown that participating in PROSPER improved young people’s abilities to communicate and solve problems with others. Eighteen years later, the children of middle school PROSPER participants displayed higher levels of social and emotional skills — including listening, getting along with others and self-control — than children of people who did not participate in PROSPER, according to a new study published in Child Development.

“This [study] shows the true power of helping children and families build skills before problems emerge. It can literally change lives for generations.”

– Gregory Fosco, professor of human development and family studies

“The skills that youth developed in PROSPER are so meaningful and so transferable that their home lives as adults were improved. In fact, they improved to the point that we can see a difference in their children,” said Greg Fosco, professor of human development and family studies, Edna Bennett Pierce Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research and lead author of the study. “To me, this shows the true power of helping children and families build skills before problems emerge. It can literally change lives for generations.”

Training that makes a difference for decades

In 2001, 28 communities in Pennsylvania and Iowa were randomized to either receive PROSPER programs from trainers in their community or to continue education as usual. In sixth grade, PROSPER students received training on solving problems, working with peers and/or declining alcohol and other substances. In seventh grade, students and their families received training on building relationships and problem-solving together.

Subsequent studies found that students in the PROSPER program continued to develop better problem-solving skills and had lower levels of delinquency and substance use during high school. After high school, they had reduced risk for antisocial behavior and problematic substance use, and they experienced lower levels of depression and suicidal thoughts. They also experienced lower levels of romantic partner violence and reported better problem-solving skills with their romantic partner, the researchers said.

“It was clear that PROSPER continued to affect people’s lives when they went out into the world,” said Mark Feinberg, research professor in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and co-author of the study. “That inspired us to ask, ‘Do these benefits carry over to next generation of children?’ It turns out that they do.”

Benefits for the next generation

In this study, the researchers examined data from 395 individuals who had young children and participated in PROSPER from 2002-03 or 2003-04, either as participants or in the control group. Statistical analyses indicated these individuals were similar to other PROSPER participants, so it is reasonable to assume that the same benefits would extend to the rest of the sample if and when they had children, the researchers said.

Participants of this study completed surveys about their family environments and their children’s social-emotional skills. Results showed that parents who participated in PROSPER during middle school reported lower levels of family conflict, higher levels of family cohesion and more clear and consistent routines for their households.

Middle school PROSPER participants also reported that their children demonstrated the abilities to share, get along with others, be helpful, wait to take turns, follow instructions and other skills needed for succeeding at school and forming friendships. Comparatively, individuals from non-PROSPER communities reported lower levels of those skills among their children.

“[A] supportive home life helped position the children of PROSPER participants for success in the home, at school and among their peers.”

– Mark Feinberg, research professor in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center

The path from PROSPER to better adjusted children

What excited the researchers, they said, was that they could determine how PROSPER affected the next generation.

The PROSPER intervention helped pre-teens develop the ability to cooperate and solve problems with others. These skills continued to improve relative to their peers after PROSPER ended, according to the researchers.

“PROSPER targeted drug use among teenagers, but by putting them on the path to better social problem-solving skills in their youth, participants continued to practice and develop these skills during adolescence,” Fosco said. “This is why we saw participants’ social problem-solving skills continue to improve for a few more years.”

When these PROSPER participants became adults, they reported less family conflict, more family belonging and clear household routines. These family-level variables were then correlated with the next generation of children’s improved social-emotional skills, the results showed.

“Researchers have known for years that the three-legged stool of low conflict, high sense of belonging and clear expectations helps create stable, healthy home environments,” Feinberg said. “In this study, we showed that this supportive home life helped position the children of PROSPER participants for success in the home, at school and among their peers.”

Because many factors influence how people, families and their children develop, the differences in the next generation of children due to PROSPER are small, the researchers said. But the fact that differences are detectable in the next generation shows how PROSPER changes lives, they continued.

“It’s important to keep in mind that PROSPER was delivered by people from the communities — not by researchers from Penn State,” Fosco said. “This program does not require outsiders to run it. Some towns have been reaping these benefits for their children over more than twenty years. PROSPER improves lives — literally for generations — and I hope to see the day when it is run in every community.”

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R01HD092439. The PROSPER trial was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism under award number R01DA013709. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute also provided support for the PROSPER project.

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