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Abstract

Well-conducted prevention and intervention research has the potential to serve the dual ends of enhancing children's adaptive outcomes and elucidating important developmental processes and mechanisms related to change. Admirably, the Fast Track preventive intervention was conceived in accord with explicit developmental theory related to the development of conduct problems. Herein, I consider how the present reports of grade-3 outcomes allow examination of causal processes and developmental mechanisms related to the effects uncovered, featuring the constructs of prediction, moderation, and particularly mediation. The multifaceted, intensive nature of the Fast Track preventive intervention is at once a clinical strength and a liability in terms of isolating causal processes underlying child change. I also consider issues related to the random assignment of the investigation and to policies that may emerge from the findings. In all, research that aims to identify relevant developmental and causal processes must incorporate both experimental and nonexperimental paradigms that are conceptualized from the outset with explanatory purposes in mind.

Tracing Changes in Families Who Participated in the Home-Start Parenting Program: Parental Sense of Competence as Mechanism of Change

“…It is possible that child behavior might improve more strongly only after the child has experienced the positive changes in maternal behavior for a longer period of time. Indeed, some evidence exists that early preventions might have a so-called “sleeper effect” (i.e., the phenomenon that effects are not visible immediately after the intervention, but appear only later on) may be salient with respect to early preventions (Hinshaw 2002). Finally, it should be noted that the majority of mothers reported child problems in the “normal” range and only 27% of children scored within clinical range on the CBCL.…”

The long-term effectiveness of the Family Check-Up on school-age conduct problems: Moderation by neighborhood deprivation

“…Several important questions remain regarding the conditions under which parenting interventions may be most or least successful. Therefore, the investigation into moderators of effectiveness is a critical issue for the field both to inform ways to refine interventions and to advance theory, as moderator analyses can elucidate whether developmental processes differ for those varying in initial risk (Gardner et al, 2009; Hinshaw, 2002). …”

Outcomes of Parenting Interventions for Child Conduct Problems: A Review of Differential Effectiveness

“…Several important questions remain regarding the conditions under which parenting interventions may be most or least successful. Therefore, the investigation into moderators of effectiveness is a critical issue for the field both to inform ways to refine interventions and to advance theory, as moderator analyses can identify subgroups and elucidate if developmental processes differ for different groups or those at different levels of risk [17, 18]. …”