Successes and Challenges in Preventing Conduct Problems in Australian Preschool-Aged Children Through the Early Impact (EI) Program

Abstract

This article reports on the initial effects of the Early Impact (EI) Program, a preventative program that includes home and school components designed to arrest the development of conduct problems in preschool-aged children. Participants included 455 preschool-aged children enrolled across 10 schools. Schools were randomly assigned to either EI or control conditions. All participants were screened at the commencement of the academic year to determine those children considered more at risk for ongoing conduct problems. Following screening n = 66 children were identified in the intervention group and n = 69 in the control. The intervention commenced in the second term of the academic year and ran over a 10-week period. Teachers involved in the intervention were highly engaged and satisfied with the program design. Improvements were reported at the school level at post-intervention with mixed evidence of durability of change at 6-month follow-up. Parent participants were more difficult to engage and reported no changes in the behaviour of children in the home. The study provides initial evidence of the efficacy of the EI intervention as a means of preventing conduct problems in young children at the school level; however, issues associated with parental engagement and home-based change remain to be solved.

Children with Behavioral/Mental Health Disorders and School Mental Health Nurses in Australia

“…The school component consisted of training for teachers in communication, friendship formation, social problem solving, self‐control, and engaging in pro‐social behaviors. The home component consisted of a parenting program that included parent's values, beliefs, and experiences; parental authority; child development; communication; rules and limits; parent consistency; reinforcing appropriate behavior and consequences; problem solving and ownership; assertiveness; managing anger; quality time; and parent preservation (Larmar et al., 2006).…”

“…Approximately 80% of parents only participated in a third of the parenting program. Despite limited changes at the level of the home, the evaluation did reveal high levels of satisfaction in terms of the program's utility across a range of home and preschool settings (Larmar et al., 2006). This program may have been more effective if there had been a coordinator or case manager.…”

The Early Impact Program: Strengthening Child Competencies

“…A full description of findings from the EI evaluation can be found in Larmar et al (2006). At postintervention the findings drawn from teacher responses derived from the SDQ revealed a significant reduction in challenging behaviours in children in the experimental group in comparison to children assigned to control conditions.…”

The Early Impact program: An early intervention and prevention program for children and families at-risk of conduct problems.

“…For a full description of findings drawn from the EI evaluation see Larmar, Dadds, & Shochet, 2006. The EI evaluation consisted of a randomised controlled trial involving 455 preschool aged children who were assigned to either control or experimental conditions.…”