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Cited by 214Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentEarly Childhood Education and DevelopmentCrime Patterns and Interventions

Impact of Early Intervention on Psychopathology, Crime, and Well-Being at Age 25

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Dodge, Kenneth A., Bierman, Karen L., Coie, John D., Greenberg, Mark T., Lochman, John E., McMahon, Robert J., Pinderhughes, Ellen E., for the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group·2015·American Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13060786PMC PMC4485380
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of early intervention to prevent adult psychopathology and improve well-being in early-starting conduct-problem children. METHOD: Kindergarteners (N=9,594) in three cohorts (1991-1993) at 55 schools in four communities were screened for conduct problems, yielding 979 early starters. A total of 891 (91%) consented (51% African American, 47% European American; 69% boys). Children were randomly assigned by school cluster to a 10-year intervention or control. The intervention goal was to develop social competencies in children that would carry them throughout life, through social skills training, parent behavior-management training with home visiting, peer coaching, reading tutoring, and classroom social-emotional curricula. Manualization and supervision ensured program fidelity. Ninety-eight percent participated during grade 1, and 80% continued through grade 10. At age 25, arrest records were reviewed (N=817, 92%), and condition-blinded adults psychiatrically interviewed participants (N=702; 81% of living participants) and a peer (N=535) knowledgeable about the participant. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat logistic regression analyses indicated that 69% of participants in the control arm displayed at least one externalizing, internalizing, or substance abuse psychiatric problem (based on self- or peer interview) at age 25, in contrast with 59% of those assigned to intervention (odds ratio=0.59, CI=0.43-0.81; number needed to treat=8). This pattern also held for self-interviews, peer interviews, scores using an "and" rule for self- and peer reports, and separate tests for externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and substance abuse problems, as well as for each of three cohorts, four sites, male participants, female participants, African Americans, European Americans, moderate-risk, and high-risk subgroups. Intervention participants also received lower severity-weighted violent (standardized estimate=-0.37) and drug (standardized estimate=-0.43) crime conviction scores, lower risky sexual behavior scores (standardized estimate=-0.24), and higher well-being scores (standardized estimate=0.19). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the efficacy of early intervention in preventing adult psychopathology among high-risk early-starting conduct-problem children.

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  • Providing early intervention is more effective and cost-efficient than waiting until adulthood when problems are entrenched.

    “Providing early intervention is known to be more effective and cost-efficient than waiting until adulthood when problems are entrenched [28, 84].”

    From Optimizing parenting and child outcomes following parent–child interaction therapy – toddler: a randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that early intervention reduced adult psychopathology and crime among children at high risk for conduct problems. It says a financial benefit–cost analysis remains for future work and that the intervention might prove cost-beneficial. The study did not compare early intervention with treatment begun in adulthood, so it does not establish that early intervention is more effective or cost-efficient than waiting. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • The Fast Track Prevention program resulted in a 34.7% relative decline in substance-related convictions and a 30.9% relative decrease in violent crime convictions at age 25.

    “This program resulted in a 34.7% relative decline in substance-related convictions and a 30.9% relative decrease in violent crime convictions at age 25.20”

    From Community investment interventions as a means for decarceration: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Results > Crime passage reports that Fast Track reduced the expected severity-weighted drug conviction index by 35% and violent crime conviction index by 31%, consistent with the claim’s approximate magnitudes. Our copy does not establish the more precise 34.7% and 30.9% figures, and the reported outcomes are severity-weighted indices rather than counts of convictions. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [10]Wilson C Indiana court upholds life sentence for teen killer 2012 8 1 Associated Press
  2. [45]Long JS Freese J Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables with Stata 2001 College Station, Tex Stata Press

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Authors
Dodge, K. A., Bierman, K. L., Coie, J. D., Greenberg, M. T., Lochman, J. E., McMahon, R. J., Pinderhughes, E. E., & for the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
Affiliations
Tufts University (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Published
2015-01-01
Volume
172
Issue
1
Pages
59-70
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13060786
PMC
PMC4485380
OpenAlex
W1967914586
Cited by
213
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 16
FWCI
21.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5p20da017589-05)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R18 MH 50953, R18MH050951, R18 MH50951, R18MH48043, K05MH000797, K05MH-00797, R18-MH50952, R18MH048043, K05MH01027, R18MH050953, K05MH001027, R18MH050952)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA 16903, R01DA016903, P20- DA017589, P30DA023026, K05DA015226, DA017589)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
Keywords
early intervention, social skills training, home visiting, peer coaching, reading tutoring, adult psychopathology, substance abuse, violent crime, drug offenses, sexual risk behavior, well-being, arrest records, kindergarten screening, vulnerable children, African American children, European American children, gender differences
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Behavior Therapy, Mental Disorders, Child, Child, Preschool, Crime, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Personal Satisfaction, Schools, Treatment Outcome, Conduct Disorder

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