Early intervention is the best way to curb aggressive tendencies in children, states a new research.
Researchers at the Duke University explained that with early intervention, parents can in fact avoid their children becoming violent criminals or psychiatrically troubled adults. "We can prevent serious violence and psycho-pathology among the group of children who are at the highest risk," said Kenneth Dodge from the Duke University.
Children tend to get aggressive when they are threatened, angered or frustrated. Parents should help their children manage aggression and replace it with more socially acceptable responses, according to healthychildren.org. It further explains that children who are socially immature generally express their negative and hostile feelings in destructive ways such as destroying their toys or the property of others, throwing objects, turning over furniture etc.
Reasons - children who do not get enough positive attention for their more socially desirable behavior develop a habit of turning to negative behaviors to get parental attention.
The current study was based on more than two decades of research. Starting in 1991, researchers screened nearly 10,000 children aged 5 for aggressive behavior problem. They identified those who were at highest risk of growing up to become violent adults.
Researchers noted that almost 900 children were in the high risk category and of those half were randomly assigned to receive intervention under the 'Fast Track Project' - a multi-faceted program. The other half acted as a control group.
The children in the 'Fast Track' group received reading, tutoring and specialized intervention focusing on improving self-control and social-cognitive skills from their first to 10th grade. Parents were taught about problem-solving skills through home visits and parent training groups.
After 19 years, researchers found that those in the 'Fast Track' group had fewer convictions for violent and drug-related crimes, lower rates of serious substance abuse, lower rates of risky sexual behaviour and fewer psychiatric problems by the age of 25 compared to the control.
"The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that, far from being doomed from an early age, at-risk children can be helped to live productive lives," Dodge said.
The study supports the observations made by a recent research that stated parental training along with medication significantly reduces aggression in children.
The current study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
