Support from the Start: effective programmes for three to eight year‐olds
| Published date | 16 March 2012 |
| Date | 16 March 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466661211213652 |
| Pages | 29-40 |
| Author | Judy Hutchings,Frances Gardner |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
Support from the Start: effective
programmes for three to eight year-olds
Judy Hutchings and Frances Gardner
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a selective, UK-focused review of recent literature on
effective interventions for preventing and reducingconduct problems in 3-8 year olds; and to update the
chapter in the Sutton et al. (2004) research report Support from the Start on effective interventions for
children aged 3-8.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide a narrative review of the risk factors for conduct
disorder.
Findings – The review describes risk factors for conduct disorder in this age range and presents an
approach to selecting effective programmes. It describes some of the better quality evidence-based
interventions in this age range that have been disseminated and successfully implemented in the UK.
Originality/value – The review provides an update of the accumulating evidence for interventions
aimed at preventing and reducing conduct problems in the 3-8 year old age group. It introduces
innovative models designed for service delivery and examines lessons learned from implementation of
these programmes. The paper provides recommendations that papercan be used by service providers
to help make informed decisions and offer effective programmes to families.
Keywords Parenting interventions, Child conduct problems, Randomised trials, Implementation,
Parents, Children
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Between the ages of three and eight years, children’s behavioural problems are easy to
identify,remain relatively stable and put them at risk of conduct disorder (CD). CDs comprise
the single biggest source of referral to child mental health services and are extremely costly
to educational, health, social care and justice systems (National Institute for Clinical
Excellence in Health and Social Care (NICE), 2006; Scott et al., 2001a). Young children’s
conduct problems typically involve simple aggressive, disruptive and non-compliant
behaviours that produce immediate consequences, whereas the replacement behaviours,
co-operation, compliance and self-regulation, are complex and harder to learn (Allen and
Duncan-Smith, 2008).
Early intervention, before children become more independent from their parents, has a
greater likelihood of success (Allen, 2011; Farrington and Welsh, 2007) than interrenning
later and there are many evidence-based interventions for parents, children and/or
teachers. A substantial weight of evidence, accumulated over the past 40 plus years, has
come from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews. Most effective
interventions are based on social learning theory, are ‘‘cognitive-behavioural’’ in orientation,
and are increasingly being used in the UK. This paper provides a selective, UK-policy
focused review of recent literature on effective interventions for preventing and reducing
conduct problems in 3-8 year olds to update the chapter in the research report Support from
the Start (Gardner et al., 2004) on effective interventions in this age range.
DOI 10.1108/17466661211213652 VOL. 7 NO. 1 2012, pp. 29-40, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES
j
PAGE 29
Judy Hutchings is Director
of the Centre for Evidence
Based Early Intervention,
School of Psychology,
Bangor University
Gwynedd, UK.
Frances Gardner is a
Clinical Psychologist and
Professor in the Department
of Social Policy and
Intervention and
Co-Director of the Centre
for Evidence Based
Intervention, University of
Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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