Coping Power Information

The Coping Power Program is a preventative intervention delivered to students in late elementary to middle school. The program uses skills-based training to increase social competence, self-regulation, and positive parental involvement. It has many benefits, including reduced substance use, reduced delinquency, and lower aggression. Coping Power's major services include structured cognitive-behavioral group sessions for participants in schools and behavioral parent training groups for parents and guardians held at convenient times near participants' neighborhoods. Coping Power has multiple formats. The original program consists of 34 group sessions and periodic individual sessions for children and 16 group sessions, individual contacts, and periodic home visits for parents. This format runs for 15 to 18 months. An abbreviated form designed to fit in a school year is also available, consisting of 24 child sessions and 10 parent group sessions. Developed as a school-based program, Coping Power has also been adapted for delivery in mental health settings. Other formats are currently under development at The University of Alabama and partnering schools The University of Virginia and Duke University.