Publication year
2008
Citation Title
Preventive intervention for preschoolers at high risk for antisocial behavior: Long-term effects on child physical aggression and parenting practices
Journal Name
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology
Journal Volume
37
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
386396
DOI
10.1080/15374410801955813
Summary
Children whose siblings were adjudicated were at risk for antisocial behaviors. The preventive effect of the modified Incredible Years Series program was examined in the study by randomly assigning high-risk preschoolers and their parents into either an intervention group or a control group. Results revealed significant effects of the intervention in observed child aggression and parental practices.
Key Findings
The family intervention had significant effects on observed child physical aggression.
Parents in the intervention group also showed sustained improvement in parenting practices than parents in the control group.
Parental rating of child physical aggression showed no intervention effect.
Implications for Military Professionals
Educate military parents on strategies to prevent child and adolescent problem behaviors
Participate in professional trainings to learn more about risk factors for youth antisocial behaviors, and how it is relevant in the military context
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups for military adolescents who were adjudicated and also for their parents
Develop workshops for military parents to foster effective parenting practices such as responsiveness, no harsh parenting, and stimulation for learning
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote additional research on preventing antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents who are at higher risk (e.g., having a sibling that was adjudicated)
Continue to support preventive intervention programs aimed at promoting optimal parenting practices in military families
Methods
Families with a preschool-age child and another child who had Family Court records and were younger than 16 years old were contacted for the study.
Families were randomly assigned to an eight-month family intervention group (N = 47) or a control group (N = 45), and were assessed four times over 24 months; 77% of the families completed all the assessments.
Assessments included observed child physical aggression, parent-rated child physical aggression, and parenting practices (harsh parenting, stimulation for learning, and responsive parenting).
Statistical analyses examined differences between the outcomes from intervention and control groups.
Participants
Participants were 92 preschoolers (53 girls) who had familial risk for adolescent antisocial behaviors.
The average age of the preschoolers was 3.96 years (SD = 0.69).
Most of the preschoolers were Black (65%), followed by Latino (27%), White (1%), Asian-American (1%), and other (6%).
Limitations
There were no baseline measurement of the child physical aggression behaviors, therefore the results may be confounded by children’s original aggression level.
The last assessment was only eight months after the intervention, so the long-term effect of the intervention was unknown.
There was no teacher-rated child physical aggression scores, therefore it was unclear how the children behaved outside the home environment.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine the long-term effect, beyond eight months, of the intervention program
Have both parent and teacher ratings of aggression so that the results are more comprehensive
Study whether the intervention would have an effect on older children who are at risk for antisocial behaviors
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
This article presents long-term effects of a preventive intervention for young children at high risk for antisocial behavior. Ninety-two children (M age = 4 years) were randomly assigned to an 8-month family intervention or no-intervention control condition and assessed 4 times over a 24-month period. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed significant intervention effects on observed child physical aggression, and significant intervention effects found at the end of the program were maintained at follow-up for responsive parenting, harsh parenting and stimulation for learning. Parent ratings of child aggression did not show significant effects of intervention.
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