Children at risk for conduct problems who participated in a 10-year intervention program used fewer health care services—both for general health and mental health needs—than at-risk children who did not participate. 

The study, “The Impact of the Fast Track Prevention Trial on Health Services Use by Youth at Risk for Conduct Problems,” published in the January issue of Pediatrics (appearing online December 14), looked at 891 children identified in kindergarten as at-risk for conduct disorder. The children were randomly assigned to participate in either the intervention group or a control group. The intervention program, which included parent training, child social-cognitive skills training, classroom conduct and more, lasted 10 years, and service use patterns were assessed during adolescence. Youth assigned to the intervention had significantly reduced use of professional general health, pediatric and emergency department services relative to the control group (based on parent report). Older adolescents were significantly less likely to receive outpatient mental health services (based on self report).

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.