PATHS was designed as a school-based preventive intervention model to improve children's ability to discuss and understand emotions and emotion concepts. The intervention field trial included 30 classrooms in a randomized design and involved the assessment of 286 children (167 males and 119 females) in second and third grades who attended school in the metropolitan Seattle area. Approximately 30 percent of the children were in self- contained special needs classrooms, with the remainder in regular education. Each child was individually assessed using the Kusche Affective Interview-Revised. Teachers were trained in the intervention model and provided PATHS lessons during most of the school year. Results showed the intervention was effective for both low-risk and high-risk (special needs) children in improving their range of vocabulary and fluency in discussing emotional experiences, their efficacy beliefs regarding the management of emotions, and their developmental understanding of some aspects of emotions. In some instances, greater improvement was seen in children with higher teacher ratings of psychopathology. 71 references and 4 tables