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The Houston parent—child development center and the primary prevention of behavior problems in young children
Author(s) -
Johnson Dale L.,
Breckenridge James N.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00896497
Subject(s) - health psychology , center (category theory) , public health , primary prevention , psychology , child development , developmental psychology , environmental health , medicine , nursing , disease , chemistry , crystallography , pathology
This study reports the effectiveness of the Houston Parent--Child Development Center (PCDC) program for preventing behavior problems in young children. The PCDC is a 2-year, intensive parent-child education program for children 1-3 and their parents. Low-income Mexican American families were randomly assigned to program or control groups. A follow-up of the program 1-4 years later, when children averaged 5 1/2 years of age, was carried out with 128 mothers who were interviewed about behavior problems of their children. A MANCOVA showed main effects for group and sex as well as a group by sex interaction. The principle result was that control boys were more destructive, overactive, negative attention-seeking, and less emotionally sensitive than program boys and girls and control girls. The program is seen as an effective primary prevention approach to behavior problems. Prior evaluations have shown that it also enhances children's cognitive skills. Other parent--child education programs should be examined as approaches to primary prevention.