Effects of early family / parenting programs on antisocial behavior and delinquency

Abstract

Early family/parent training programs are intended to serve many purposes, one of them being the prevention of child behavior problems including antisocial behavior and delinquency. While early family/parent training may not often be implemented with the expressed aim of preventing antisocial behavior, delinquency, and crime – sometimes these programs are aimed at more general, non-crime outcomes – its relevance to the prevention of crime has been suggested in developmentally-based criminological and psychological literatures. The main objective of this review is to assess the available research evidence on the effects of early family/parent training on child behavior problems including antisocial behavior and delinquency. In addition to assessing the overall impact of early family/parent training, this review will also investigate, to the extent possible, in which settings and under what conditions it is most effective.