Effects of Family Support Intervention: A Ten-Year Follow-up

Abstract

The delivery to impoverished mothers of a coordinated set of medical and social services, including day-care for their children, had effects that were evident a decade after the intervention ended. Intervention mothers were more likely to be self-supporting, and they had higher educational attainment and smaller family sizes than did control mothers. Intervention children had better school attendance, and boys were less likely to require costly special school services than were corresponding control children. The financial implications of these results were considerable, totaling about $40,000 in extra estimated welfare costs and documented school service costs needed by the 15 control families in the single year in which these follow-up data were gathered. There were no indications that the intervention had lasting effects on the children's IQ scores. The results suggest that family support procedures, including quality day-care, have considerable promise as a general model for intervention programs.

PREVENTING YOUTH VIOLENCE: What Works?

“…Those that affect more than one risk factor, or support different strengths in the family, are most successful. Early childhood interventions that have achieved long-term reductions in antisocial behavior and delinquency include home visitation as an essential feature, along with early education (5,44,53,66,86,87). In these programs, weekly to monthly home visits provide parenting information, emotional support, counseling and referrals to appropriate outside agencies.…”

Interaction between birth complications and early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to adult violence: specificity to serious, early-onset violence

“…In a variety of studies, subjects in experimental and control groups have been provided with home visits during pregnancy and the child's first few years, with interventions supplying information on nutrition, drug use, general health issues, early infant care and development, and parenting skills. These experimental interventions have been found to result in higher birth weight and fewer preterm deliveries (16), less child neglect and abuse (17), fewer injuries in the first year of life (18), more affectionate, less critical mothering of the child at age 3 and a positive emotional atmosphere in the family when the child was aged 10 (19, 20), higher intelligence and fewer behavior problems at 2-3 years (21), less aggression at 10 and 11 years (19,20), and less delinquency at age 15 (22). With respect to future research, it is argued that such interventions appear to be effective and should receive more intensive application and assessment.…”

La composante parentale d’un programme d’éveil numérique destiné aux enfants de milieu socioéconomiquement faible du niveau de la maternelle représente-t-elle une valeur ajoutée ?

“…Les commentaires des parents, appelés à évaluer leur expérience lors de la dernière rencontre des ateliers, expriment majoritairement le caractère positif et enrichissant de ceux-ci. Il n'est donc pas utopique de croire que, appuyés sur cette expérience réussie de collaboration avec l'école, ils continueront à s'impliquer dans l'éducation scolaire de leur enfant, qu'ils porteront une plus grande attention à ses performances scolaires et qu'ils interviendront plus efficacement dans ce domaine (Olmsted, 1991 ;Seitz, Rosenbaum et Apfel, 1985).…”