Long‐Term Effects of nurse Home Visitation on Children's Criminal and Antisocial Behavior: Fifteen‐Year Follow‐Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Invited Address: James Joyce, Alice in Wonderland, the Rolling Stones, and Criminal Careers

“…Largely based on the results of a very important experiment that developed and evaluated a nurse home visitation program in upstate New York and uncovered a set of very positive outcomes among the youth subject to the intervention as they entered middle/late adolescence (Olds et al 1998), there has been a growing application of these programs around the world. In an effort to develop an overall sense of the results of these various efforts, Piquero et al (2009) performed a meta-analysis of 55 studies that focused on the early family/parent training programs implemented in early childhood (through age 5) for reducing child behavior problems (antisocial behavior and delinquency).…”

Psychosocial Outcomes of Urban African American Adolescents Born to Teenage Mothers

“…They examined the outcomes for the children 15 years after they were born. Olds et al (1998) found that the adolescent children of mothers who were home visited were less likely to engage in antisocial behavior (e.g., runaway, criminal activity, cigarette and alcohol use) than youths whose mothers were not in the program. They also found the adolescent children whose mothers were in the program reported fewer sexual partners and less behavior problems associated with alcohol and drug use than their counterparts whose mothers did not participate in the program.…”

“…Olds and colleagues describe a home visitation intervention designed to enhance the parenting skills of teenage mothers (Olds et al, 1998;Olds & Korfmacher, 1997). Although their intervention was not exclusively for teen mothers, their sample included 151 mothers under 18.…”

“…The results of this study and others, however, suggest that it may be useful if these programs focus more attention on the consequences for teen parents than do their children. Nevertheless, efforts to insure the healthy development of children regardless of the age of their mother may be beneficial (Olds et al, 1998;Olds & Korfmacher, 1997). It may also be useful for teen pregnancy prevention programs to be part of a larger prevention strategy that incorporates social structural change efforts and does not focus only on individual level change.…”

Prevention of mental health problems: rationale for a universal approach

“…22 23 To date, work on the development of prevention programmes has targeted families at high risk, 4 24-26 with encouraging results. Olds et al 25 found that a 2-year programme of home visits by nurses to adolescent, unmarried mothers of low socioeconomic status (SES) reduced the rates of child antisocial behaviour in this targeted group. However, targeted prevention for highly prevalent problems has substantial limitations.…”