Three-year follow-up of a family support service cohort of children with behavioural problems and their parents.
Abstract Background The aim of this study was to establish the medium-term (three-year) psychosocial outcome of children with behavioural problems and their parents, who had received an intervention from a family support service. Methods Forty families were traced at the three-year follow-up and agreed to participate. Pre- and post-intervention and follow-up measures were the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results The primary HoNOSCA outcome items (i.e. those initially targeted by the parenting intervention) of aggression/antisocial behaviour and family relationships were not found to have changed significantly from the baseline (but had not sustained the sort-term improvement following the intervention). Deterioration was found in other HoNOSCA items such as overactivity, self-harm, scholastic/language skills, emotional, and poor school attendance. When we compared pre-intervention with follow-up SDQ scores, there was no significant change on any scales, i.e. these had returned to the level reported at the time of the original referral to the family support service. Conclusions Following the intervention from a family support service, children and families reported a significant improvement in most outcome measures, predominantly child behaviour and family relationships. However, these improvements were either not sustained or there were additional difficulties at three-year follow-up. These could be related to various external and developmental factors. This lack of sustainable treatment effects for children with behavioural problems is consistent with previous research findings on parenting programmes.
Anderson
L
L
University of Leicester, Greenwood Institute of Child Health, Westcotes House, Westcotes Drive, Leicester, UK.
Vostanis
P
P
O'Reilly
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002662:Child Health Services; D004493:Education; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome