Violent Tendencies Can Be Stopped With Early Interventions

Scientists have discovered that many aggressive and potentially dangerous behavioral tendencies can be spotted early on in life. Fortunately, if diagnosed early on, they can also be treated and potentially prevented, as well.

"We can prevent serious violence and psychopathology among the group of children who are highest-risk," said Duke University's Kenneth Dodge, who is the William McDougall Professor of Public Policy at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy and the director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, in a news release. "That's the essential finding from this study. It provides the strongest evidence yet that, far from being doomed from an early age, at-risk children can be helped to live productive lives."

For the study, researchers examined data from the Fast Track Project, which consisted of federally funded trials that examined violence-prevention programs. The project began in 1991 and screened nearly 10,000 children from multiple cities throughout the United States, for aggressive behaviors. Nearly 900 five-year-old children were considered to be at high risk of becoming violent and antisocial adults, according to the information.

Half of the children involved were randomly placed in the Fast Track Intervention Group while the other half were enrolled in the placebo group. The intervention program lasted from first grade to 10th grade and taught children how to improve their self-control and social-cognitive skills while parents learned different problem solving techniques that they could use with their children.

When the children grew up and turned 25, the researchers examined court records based on individual history convictions that also interviewed participants and people who knew the participants well. 

Findings showed that the intervention program was effective in reducing many violent behaviors and psychiatric illnesses in both male and female participants and in both white and African-American participants, as well.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the American Journal of Psychiatry.