Psychologist Whose Program Intervenes with Children with Aggressive Behavior Receives UA’s Burnum Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. John E. Lochman, professor and Saxon Chair in Clinical Psychology at The University of Alabama, director of the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems and co-developer of the “Coping Power” program to help treat persistent and disruptive aggressive behavior in children, is the recipient of The University of Alabama’s 2007 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.

One of the highest honors the University bestows on its faculty, the Burnum Award is given each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated superior scholarly or artistic achievements and profound dedication to the art of teaching. A presentation by UA President Robert E. Witt and lecture by Lochman will be at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Room 151, Shelby Hall. The lecture is open to the public; Lochman’s topic is “Youth Antisocial Behavior: Potential for Prevention.”

“It’s a tremendous honor to receive this award, which is one of the most important awards for the faculty here at The University of Alabama,” said Lochman, who earned his doctorate at the University of Connecticut. “One of the aspects of the award and the honor that’s most important to me is being included in the group of very outstanding faculty members at The University of Alabama who have won the Burnum Award over the years.”

Lochman, who came to the University in 1998, has published more than 150 scholarly articles, more than 75 book chapters and seven books. He is president of the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and is a member of the board of directors of the Society for Prevention Research. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the American Psychological Association Society of Clinical Psychology. In addition, Lochman received an honorary doctorate from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2004 as well as the Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award.

“He is the type of individual for whom the Burnum Award was intended, a highly productive and respected researcher and inspiring teacher who brings national distinction to our institution,” said Dr. Robert Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “John Lochman is as unpretentious and amiable as he is talented and thoughtful. He does not seek recognition for himself, but does so enthusiastically for his colleagues and students.”

The “Coping Power” program provides a structured intervention into the lives of children in late elementary school and middle school who are the most aggressive and disruptive – the top 20 to 30 percent, according to the “Coping Power” Web site. Lochman said these children are at high risk for substance abuse – cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana use – in middle school and beyond.

“One of the key things is whether or not the behavior is fairly chronic and shows up in multiple settings in a child’s life,” Lochman said. “The at-risk child is showing pretty serious and intense aggressive behavior at home, at school and with their friends in the peer group.”

The program takes a cognitive-behavioral approach that involves 34 group sessions with children and parents. In these sessions, children learn and model different behaviors for handling stress, anger, peer pressure and other situations; parents learn how to give positive attention and consistent rules.

“The work with the children focuses on how to more accurately perceive social problems the children have,” Lochman said. “These children tend to be quick to assume that other people are out to get them, when they’re not. So there’s a focus on more accurate perception. There’s also a lot of emphasis on more accurate problem solving. And then there is a behavioral focus. We help the parents to provide clearer instructions to their children and help the parents provide clearer and more consistent consequences.”

Lochman’s recent research has looked at the effectiveness of this kind of treatment. For example, a recent study with colleagues at the University of Utrecht found that this treatment can have long-term benefits in keeping these children from using cigarettes and marijuana at higher rates than the general population of pre-teens and adolescents.

“In those studies, we’ve found that treatment using Coping Power of children who had oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder in the pre-adolescent age period can lead to prevention of marijuana and cigarette use up to four years following intervention,” Lochman said. “It’s an indication that treatment of children who have acute behavior problems can have longer-term preventive effects.”

Lochman and his associates also have studied how schools are implementing these sessions in an effort to improve how the program is delivered.

“We’re very interested in how we can take these kinds of evidenced-based programs and disseminate them more broadly,” Lochman said. “We’re engaged in one broad-based study in Alabama where we’ve trained counselors in 57 schools in how to use the core program. One of our recent analyses indicates that if we use an intensive platform of training with regular school counselors, the counselors can use this program well, and the children (in the program) show reduced levels of externalizing behavioral problems according to what teachers say, according to what parents say and according to what children themselves say.”

The psychology department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.