This community based intervention resulted in positive effects, despite being of low intensity, in achieving significantly less hyperactive/distractable behaviour in children from the combined intervention group at 2 years postintervention. Anxiety problems were also reduced at the post-treatment phase. The prereading package did not demonstrate any effects on reading skills and was deemed to be insufficiently intensive to affect a population of disadvantaged preschoolers. This universal-type of intervention was well accepted by the community, but there is need for further effort to increase recruitment of families of at-risk children into such programmes.

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Findings indicated lower levels of behaviour problems in this sample compared to that of other Australian studies. Boys showed higher rates of externalising behaviour problems than girls. The relationships between behaviour problems and language difficulties, ethnicity, and socio-economic status are discussed.