Scallywags - an evaluation of a service targeting conduct disorders at school and at home

Conduct disorder (CD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Some research has focused on reducing conduct difficulties through parent training programmes. However, there has been limited research focusing on early intervention services that deal with emotional and/or conduct problems in a community setting. The aim of this study was to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Scallywags service, a multi-component, early intervention scheme, offering support in the educational and home setting. A total of 411 children, aged 3 to 7 years, was included in this study. Two behaviour inventories were used as the outcome measures. Parents and teachers completed these pre, post, and six months after the intervention. Results demonstrate significant decreases in child conduct problems after the six months intervention, with this change maintained six months later. This study adds to growing research illustrating the importance of multi-component, early intervention schemes to reduce child conduct problems.