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.