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Dose-response effect of mother-infant clinical home visiting on aggressive behavior problems in kindergarten

Karlen Lyons-Ruth1, Sharon Melnick

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School at the Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. klruth@hms.harvard.edu

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|May 29, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Clinical infant home-visiting services significantly reduced aggressive behavior problems in at-risk children. These positive effects on child behavior persisted for years after the program concluded, demonstrating long-term benefits.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Public Health Interventions
  • Early Childhood Education

Background:

  • Early childhood is a critical period for development.
  • Low-income families face unique challenges impacting child outcomes.
  • Home-visiting services aim to support vulnerable families and improve child well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the long-term impact of clinical infant home-visiting services.
  • To assess effects on child behavior and social competence at school entry.
  • To determine dose-response relationships between service duration and child outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Follow-up study of 63 five-year-olds from low-income families.
  • Intervention group received weekly home visits for up to 18 months.
  • Child behavior and social competence assessed using teacher and parent reports.

Main Results:

  • Teacher-rated hostile behavior problems showed a dose-response decrease with longer service duration.
  • Positive play behaviors were positively related to service duration.
  • Teacher reports were more reliable indicators of service impact than parent reports.

Conclusions:

  • Early home-visiting services effectively reduced aggressive behavior problems in socially at-risk children.
  • Benefits were observed up to 3.5 years after service cessation.
  • Home-visiting services represent a valuable intervention for promoting positive child development.
Abstract

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