PATHS is a comprehensive, developmentally-based curriculum designed to promote emotional and social competencies and reduce aggression and behavior problems of students in elementary school. This prevention-intervention program focuses on specific developmental skills: emotional literacy (i.e., identifying and labeling feelings), self-control, social competence, positive peer relations, and interpersonal problem-solving. Enhancement of the educational process in the classroom (including student-teacher interactions) and internalizing pro-social values are additional program goals. An important curriculum component emphasizes students’ use of acquired skills in real-life situations. PATHS is rooted in five conceptual models: 1) the Affective-Behavioral-Cognitive-Dynamic (ABCD) model of development (children experience and react to emotions before they learn to verbalize them or control their subsequent behavior); 2) the Eco-Behavioral Systems model (school-based programs that educate children while instilling positive changes in the school environment work best); 3) the Neurobiology and Brain Structuralization/Organization framework (the understanding and management of emotions and behavioral control are achieved via communication between different regions within the brain); 4) Psychodynamic Education (emphasizing the coordination of social, emotional, and cognitive growth and the process of internalization); and 5) Emotional Awareness (encouraging socialization of children through discussion of feelings with adults who support and respect them). PATHS is one of ten interventions selected by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence for inclusion among its "Blueprints" programs, and is highlighted in the 1998 Annual Report on School Safety.

Target Population

- Grade Level: from  Kindergarten to  Sixth grade