Can Childhood Intervention Prevent Adult Psychopathology?
Can Childhood Intervention Prevent Adult Psychopathology?
My name is Dr Robert Findling, director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. l will be reviewing the results of a study that examined how an early intervention in an at-risk pediatric population affected outcomes when these youths reached 25 years of age. Children who have chronic conduct-related difficulties are at risk for poor outcomes through adolescence and into adulthood. In a randomized controlled trial, the investigators from the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group examined whether an intervention could influence these outcomes in at-risk 6-year-olds. The study was just published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The investigators screened almost 9600 children in kindergarten and identified 979 with conduct problems. The students came from 55 schools in four communities. The children were randomly assigned to a control group or to a 10-year intervention. The intervention was multimodal and incorporated parent behavior training, child social skills training, tutoring for the child, a peer coach, and other psychosocial interventions. Eight years after the intervention ended, the investigators looked at how these different groups fared.
They found that those who received active treatment were less likely to suffer from a psychiatric difficulty. Children who received the intervention were less likely to meet diagnostic symptom criteria for antisocial personality and had a lower probability of having alcohol abuse and serious substance use. As far as criminality is concerned, the intervention seemed to have reduced the rate of violent crime and drug convictions. All of these are meaningful outcomes, but still, this intervention did have some limitations. Some outcomes did not differ between the groups. Depression, anxiety, and heavy marijuana use were not significantly different between the intervention and control groups, nor were rates of property crime, high school graduation, or full-time employment.
When considered in their entirety, these data support the assertion that an evidence-based multimodal intervention provided to at-risk children throughout childhood can have benefits and positive effects that extend into young adulthood. The fact that this work focuses on prevention rather than treatment, per se, makes it worth mention and discussion. I'm Dr Robert Findling.
My name is Dr Robert Findling, director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. l will be reviewing the results of a study that examined how an early intervention in an at-risk pediatric population affected outcomes when these youths reached 25 years of age. Children who have chronic conduct-related difficulties are at risk for poor outcomes through adolescence and into adulthood. In a randomized controlled trial, the investigators from the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group examined whether an intervention could influence these outcomes in at-risk 6-year-olds. The study was just published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The investigators screened almost 9600 children in kindergarten and identified 979 with conduct problems. The students came from 55 schools in four communities. The children were randomly assigned to a control group or to a 10-year intervention. The intervention was multimodal and incorporated parent behavior training, child social skills training, tutoring for the child, a peer coach, and other psychosocial interventions. Eight years after the intervention ended, the investigators looked at how these different groups fared.
They found that those who received active treatment were less likely to suffer from a psychiatric difficulty. Children who received the intervention were less likely to meet diagnostic symptom criteria for antisocial personality and had a lower probability of having alcohol abuse and serious substance use. As far as criminality is concerned, the intervention seemed to have reduced the rate of violent crime and drug convictions. All of these are meaningful outcomes, but still, this intervention did have some limitations. Some outcomes did not differ between the groups. Depression, anxiety, and heavy marijuana use were not significantly different between the intervention and control groups, nor were rates of property crime, high school graduation, or full-time employment.
When considered in their entirety, these data support the assertion that an evidence-based multimodal intervention provided to at-risk children throughout childhood can have benefits and positive effects that extend into young adulthood. The fact that this work focuses on prevention rather than treatment, per se, makes it worth mention and discussion. I'm Dr Robert Findling.
