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Cited by 1,122Crime Patterns and InterventionsMaternal and Neonatal HealthcareChild and Adolescent Health

Long-term Effects of Nurse Home Visitation on Children's Criminal and Antisocial Behavior: 15-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Olds, David, Henderson, Jr, Charles R., Cole, Robert, Eckenrode, John, Kitzman, Harriet, Luckey, Dennis, Pettitt, Lisa, Sidora, Kimberly +2 more·1998·JAMA
DOI 10.1001/jama.280.14.1238
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Abstract

CONTEXT: A program of home visitation by nurses has been shown to affect the rates of maternal welfare dependence, criminality, problems due to use of substances, and child abuse and neglect. However, the long-term effects of this program on children's antisocial behavior have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses on children's antisocial behavior. DESIGN: Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Interviews were conducted with the adolescents and their biological mothers or custodial parents. SETTING: Semirural community in New York. PARTICIPANTS: Between April 1978 and September 1980, 500 consecutive pregnant women with no previous live births were recruited, and 400 were enrolled. A total of 315 adolescent offspring participated in a follow-up study when they were 15 years old; 280 (89%) were born to white mothers, 195 (62%) to unmarried mothers, 151 (48%) to mothers younger than 19 years, and 186 (59%) to mothers from households of low socioeconomic status at the time of registration during pregnancy. INTERVENTION: Families in the groups that received home visits had an average of 9 (range, 0-16) home visits during pregnancy and 23 (range, 0-59) home visits from birth through the child's second birthday. The control groups received standard prenatal and well-child care in a clinic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Children's self-reports of running away, arrests, convictions, being sentenced to youth corrections, initiation of sexual intercourse, number of sex partners, and use of illegal substances; school records of suspensions; teachers' reports of children's disruptive behavior in school; and parents' reports of the children's arrests and behavioral problems related to the children's use of alcohol and other drugs. RESULTS: Adolescents born to women who received nurse visits during pregnancy and postnatally and who were unmarried and from households of low socioeconomic status (risk factors for antisocial behavior), in contrast with those in the comparison groups, reported fewer instances (incidence) of running away (0.24 vs 0.60; P = .003), fewer arrests (0.20 vs 0.45; P = .03), fewer convictions and violations of probation (0.09 vs 0.47; P<.001), fewer lifetime sex partners (0.92 vs 2.48; P= .003), fewer cigarettes smoked per day (1.50 vs 2.50; P= .10), and fewer days having consumed alcohol in the last 6 months (1.09 vs 2.49; P = .03). Parents of nurse-visited children reported that their children had fewer behavioral problems related to use of alcohol and other drugs (0.15 vs 0.34; P = .08). There were no program effects on other behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: This program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses can reduce reported serious antisocial behavior and emergent use of substances on the part of adolescents born into high-risk families.

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  • Interventions that can prevent maltreatment should also prevent a proportion of cases of mental health problems in the population.

    “interventions that can prevent maltreatment (e.g., home visitation programs for high-risk families; 85, 86) should also prevent a proportion of cases of mental health problems in the population.”

    From Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Quasi-Experimental Studies (2023) · cites this paper as [86]

  • The Nurse-Family Partnership has been rigorously studied and reproduced in multiple regions across the United States with over a decade of participant follow-up.

    “The Nurse-Family Partnership, in which a nurse attended multiple in-home visits to low-income, first-time pregnant mothers, has been rigorously studied and reproduced in multiple regions across the United States with over a decade of participant follow-up.30,32,33”

    From Community investment interventions as a means for decarceration: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [32]

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Authors
Olds, D., Henderson, Jr., Cole, R., Eckenrode, J., Kitzman, H., Luckey, D., Pettitt, L., Sidora, K., Morris, P., & Powers, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Rochester (US)
  • Cornell University (US)
  • University of Colorado Denver (US)
  • University of Denver (US)
ORCID
Venue
JAMA
Publisher
American Medical Association (AMA)
Published
1998-10-14
Volume
280
Issue
14
Pages
1238
ISSN
  • 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
  • 0098-7484
DOI
10.1001/jama.280.14.1238
OpenAlex
W2142374353
Cited by
1,122
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 58
FWCI
132.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • JAMA (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh049381-04)
  • U.S. Public Health Service (96ASPE278A)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K05MH001382, 1-K05-MH01382-01, R01-MH49381)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Child and Adolescent Health
Keywords
home-visit nursing, antisocial behavior, adolescent criminal behavior, juvenile arrests, juvenile corrections, adolescent sexual behavior, adolescent substance use, school suspension, disruptive behavior, low socioeconomic status, unmarried mothers, adolescent girls, long-term effects, child welfare, child abuse
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Community Health Nursing, Crime, Female, Follow-Up Studies, House Calls, Humans, Infant, New York, Pregnancy, Rural Health, Socioeconomic Factors, Program Evaluation, Incidence, Maternal-Child Nursing

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